Paraguayan president-elect Santiago Pena yesterday said in a telephone call with President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) that he hoped to visit Taiwan soon.
Pena, of the ruling Colorado Party, won the presidential election on Sunday and pledged to continue strengthening ties of fraternity and cooperation with Taiwan.
Tsai spoke on the phone with Pena for about 20 minutes, the Presidential Office said in a press release.
Photo: Screen grab from President Tsai Ing-wen’s Twitter page
She congratulated Pena on his landslide victory, in which he garnered about 43 percent of the vote, and expressed hope that ties with Paraguay would be further expanded and deepened, the office said.
She thanked Pena for repeatedly voicing support for Taiwan and pledging to cement ties with the nation, it said.
There was concern that Taiwan’s relationship with Paraguay was under threat prior to the election, as Pena’s main rival, Efrain Alegre, had said that, if elected, he would cut diplomatic ties with Taipei and recognize Beijing.
Close cooperation between Taiwan and Paraguay has brought great outcomes since Mario Abdo Benitez took office as Paraguayan president in 2018, Tsai said.
Based on their close ties and a solid foundation for cooperation, the two nations would seek more bilateral programs in agricultural technology, public healthcare, education and electric transportation, she said.
When Abdo Benitez visited Taiwan last month, Tsai accompanied him to visit the RAC Electric Vehicle factory at the Port of Taichung, where they met several Paraguayan students who have taken up key positions in the company after graduating from universities in Taiwan, she said, adding that hopefully Taipei and Asuncion would arrange more talent exchanges and training programs.
Pena thanked Tsai for her congratulatory message, saying that he had met her when she last visited the country.
He visited Taiwan 22 years ago to attend workshops and hoped to see Tsai again soon, Pena said.
Minister of Foreign Affairs Joseph Wu (吳釗燮), Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs Alexander Yui (俞大?), National Security Council Secretary-General Wellington Koo (顧立雄) and Presidential Office Deputy Secretary-General Xavier Chang (張惇涵) also participated in the call, the office said.
GOOD DIPLOMACY: The KMT has maintained close contact with representative offices in Taiwan and had extended an invitation to Russia as well, the KMT said The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) would “appropriately handle” the fallout from an invitation it had extended to Russia’s representative to Taipei to attend its international banquet last month, KMT Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) said yesterday. US and EU representatives in Taiwan boycotted the event, and only later agreed to attend after the KMT rescinded its invitation to the Russian representative. The KMT has maintained long-term close contact with all representative offices and embassies in Taiwan, and had extended the invitation as a practice of good diplomacy, Chu said. “Some EU countries have expressed their opinions of Russia, and the KMT respects that,” he
CHANGES: After-school tutoring periods, extracurricular activities during vacations or after-school study periods must not be used to teach new material, the ministry said The Ministry of Education yesterday announced new rules that would ban giving tests to most elementary and junior-high school students during morning study and afternoon rest periods. The amendments to regulations governing public education at elementary schools and junior high schools are to be implemented on Aug. 1. The revised rules stipulate that schools are forbidden to use after-school tutoring periods, extracurricular activities during summer or winter vacation or after-school study periods to teach new course material. In addition, schools would be prohibited from giving tests or exams to students in grades one to eight during morning study and afternoon break periods, the
Advocates of the rights of motorcycle and scooter riders yesterday protested in front of the Ministry of Transportation and Communications in Taipei, making three demands. They were joined by 30 passenger vehicles, which surrounded the ministry to make three demands related to traffic regulations — that motorcycles and scooters above 250cc be allowed on highways, that all motorcycles and scooters be allowed on inside lanes, and that driver and rider training programs be reformed. The ministry said that it has no plans to allow motorcycles on national highways for the time being, and said that motorcycles would be allowed on the inner
AMENDMENT: Contact with certain individuals in China, Hong Kong and Macau must be reported, and failure to comply could result in a prison sentence, the proposal stated The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) yesterday voted against a proposed bill by Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) lawmakers that would require elected officials to seek approval before visiting China. DPP Legislator Puma Shen’s (沈伯洋) proposed amendments to the Act Governing Relations Between the People of the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area (臺灣地區與大陸地區人民關係條例), stipulate that contact with certain individuals in China, Hong Kong and Macau should be reported, while failure to comply would be punishable by prison sentences of up to three years, alongside a fine of NT$10 million (US$309,041). Fifty-six voted with the TPP in opposition