Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Michelle Lin (林楚茵) denied claims by members of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) that Vice President William Lai (賴清德), the DPP’s presidential candidate, had requested to visit Washington during his trip to Paraguay.
In recent weeks there have been claims that Lai had sent his personal envoy for talks with US government officials to grant him a stopover at the country’s capital.
Taiwan’s government checked with its representative offices in the US along with think tanks based there and the country’s officials, and confirmed no such talks had taken place and Lai’s team had not made such a request, said a Taiwanese diplomat, who did not want to be named.
Photo: CNA
Lai is to embark on his trip on Saturday next week with the main agenda of attending the inauguration ceremony of Paraguay president-elect Santiago Pena, and to arrive on the same day in New York to stay overnight there, then head to Paraguay, Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs Alexander Yui (俞大?) said.
On the return trip from Paraguay, Lai is to visit San Francisco on the night of Aug. 15 to stay overnight, then head back to Taiwan.
Yui did not give any information about Lai’s meetings in the two US cities, but said he would travel as “the president’s envoy.”
At a press briefing yesterday, Lin (林楚茵) alleged that Victor Chin (秦日新), deputy director of the KMT liaison office in Washington, was the source of the rumor.
The identification of Chin, a former diplomat, as the source of the rumor came from checks with Taiwanese and US officials, Lin said.
The rumor falsely alleged that Lai wanted to visit the American Institute in Taiwan headquarters in Washington, Lin said.
“Foreign affairs is not conducted by one party or one person only,” Lin said. “It is related to the image of our nation, but the KMT still allows Chin with a checkered record to spread rumors based on false information, to tarnish one of our government officials and to damage Taiwan’s efforts in international diplomacy.”
When Chin represented Taiwan abroad as a Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) diplomat, he was embroiled in several scandals and came under judicial investigation and was found to have committed wrongdoings, she said, adding that MOFA later dismissed him, and he was also impeached by the Control Yuan.
The investigation findings on Chin leading to his impeachment included a corruption case, forgery of documents with false receipts for personal profit and engagement in an extra-martial affair with a female diplomat from Japan, along with other serious violations, Lin said.
Alain Robert, known as the "French Spider-Man," praised Alex Honnold as exceptionally well-prepared after the US climber completed a free solo ascent of Taipei 101 yesterday. Robert said Honnold's ascent of the 508m-tall skyscraper in just more than one-and-a-half hours without using safety ropes or equipment was a remarkable achievement. "This is my life," he said in an interview conducted in French, adding that he liked the feeling of being "on the edge of danger." The 63-year-old Frenchman climbed Taipei 101 using ropes in December 2004, taking about four hours to reach the top. On a one-to-10 scale of difficulty, Robert said Taipei 101
Taiwanese and US defense groups are collaborating to introduce deployable, semi-autonomous manufacturing systems for drones and components in a boost to the nation’s supply chain resilience. Taiwan’s G-Tech Optroelectronics Corp subsidiary GTOC and the US’ Aerkomm Inc on Friday announced an agreement with fellow US-based Firestorm Lab to adopt the latter’s xCell, a technology featuring 3D printers fitted in 6.1m container units. The systems enable aerial platforms and parts to be produced in high volumes from dispersed nodes capable of rapid redeployment, to minimize the risk of enemy strikes and to meet field requirements, they said. Firestorm chief technology officer Ian Muceus said
MORE FALL: An investigation into one of Xi’s key cronies, part of a broader ‘anti-corruption’ drive, indicates that he might have a deep distrust in the military, an expert said China’s latest military purge underscores systemic risks in its shift from collective leadership to sole rule under Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平), and could disrupt its chain of command and military capabilities, a national security official said yesterday. If decisionmaking within the Chinese Communist Party has become “irrational” under one-man rule, the Taiwan Strait and the regional situation must be approached with extreme caution, given unforeseen risks, they added. The anonymous official made the remarks as China’s Central Military Commission Vice Chairman Zhang Youxia (張又俠) and Joint Staff Department Chief of Staff Liu Zhenli (劉振立) were reportedly being investigated for suspected “serious
Nipah virus infection is to be officially listed as a category 5 notifiable infectious disease in Taiwan in March, while clinical treatment guidelines are being formulated, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said yesterday. With Nipah infections being reported in other countries and considering its relatively high fatality rate, the centers on Jan. 16 announced that it would be listed as a notifiable infectious disease to bolster the nation’s systematic early warning system and increase public awareness, the CDC said. Bangladesh reported four fatal cases last year in separate districts, with three linked to raw date palm sap consumption, CDC Epidemic Intelligence
RSS