Delegations from Taiwan’s diplomatic allies and other friendly countries have arrived in the nation to attend the inauguration of president-elect William Lai (賴清德) and vice president-elect Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴) today.
From the presidential election on Jan. 13 until today, 687 foreign guests from 73 delegations have come to Taiwan to deliver congratulatory messages to the newly elected leaders, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said.
Among them, 508 guests from 51 delegations, including eight led by heads of state, are attending today’s inauguration ceremony and other related events, it added.
Photo: CNA
Pope Francis appointed the Holy See’s Apostolic Nuncio to the Philippines Charles John Brown to visit Taiwan from yesterday to tomorrow as a special envoy, the ministry said.
The Pope asked the Archbishop to congratulate Lai and pray for prosperity of Taiwanese, it said.
Other European countries also sent delegations to Taiwan, including 39 guests from the UK, France, Germany, Italy, Lithuania, Slovakia, Sweden, Ukraine, the European Parliament and the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China, the ministry said.
Photo: CNA
Some of the heavyweight guests include former Lithuanian president Dalia Grybauskaite, European Parliament Subcommittee on Security and Defence Vice Chair Rasa Jukneviciene, British-Taiwanese All-Party Parliamentary Group Chair Lord Rogan, British Trade Envoy to Taiwan Lord Faulkner, Italian Senate Vice President Gian Marco Centinaio and German-Taiwan Parliamentary Friendship Group Chair Klaus-Peter Willsch, it said.
Guests from North America include a delegation led by former US secretary of state Mike Pompeo; a delegation comprising former US deputy secretary of state Richard Armitage, former assistant to the US president and director of the National Economic Council Brian Deese, former American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) chair Richard Bush and AIT Chair Laura Rosenberger; as well as an 11-member delegation led by Canadian lawmaker Judy Sgro, the ministry said.
Pacific Century Institute chairman and former AIT chair Raymond Burghardt, former AIT director Brent Christensen and Washington Times board of directors chairman Tom McDevitt are also in Taiwan, it added.
Former Singaporean parliament speaker Abdullah Tarmugi, South Korean National Assembly member and South Korea-Taiwan Parliamentarian Friendship Association president Cho Kyoung-tae, and Australian senators Raff Ciccone and David Fawcett also arrived in Taiwan, the ministry said.
Trips for more than 100,000 international and domestic air travelers could be disrupted as China launches a military exercise around Taiwan today, Taiwan’s Civil Aviation Administration (CAA) said yesterday. The exercise could affect nearly 900 flights scheduled to enter the Taipei Flight Information Region (FIR) during the exercise window, it added. A notice issued by the Chinese Civil Aviation Administration showed there would be seven temporary zones around the Taiwan Strait which would be used for live-fire exercises, lasting from 8am to 6pm today. All aircraft are prohibited from entering during exercise, it says. Taipei FIR has 14 international air routes and
Taiwan lacks effective and cost-efficient armaments to intercept rockets, making the planned “T-Dome” interception system necessary, two experts said on Tuesday. The concerns were raised after China’s military fired two waves of rockets during live-fire drills around Taiwan on Tuesday, part of two-day exercises code-named “Justice Mission 2025.” The first wave involved 17 rockets launched at 9am from Pingtan in China’s Fujian Province, according to Lieutenant General Hsieh Jih-sheng (謝日升) of the Office of the Deputy Chief of the General Staff for Intelligence at the Ministry of National Defense. Those rockets landed 70 nautical miles (129.6km) northeast of Keelung without flying over Taiwan,
City buses in Taipei and New Taipei City, as well as the Taipei MRT, would on Saturday begin accepting QR code payments from five electronic payment providers, the Taipei Department of Transportation said yesterday. The new option would allow passengers to use the “transportation QR code” feature from EasyWallet, iPass Money, iCash Pay, Jkopay or PXPay Plus. Passengers should open their preferred electronic payment app, select the “transportation code” — not the regular payment code — unlock it, and scan the code at ticket readers or gates, General Planning Division Director-General Liu Kuo-chu (劉國著) said. People should move through the
The Ministry of National Defense (MND) today released images of the military tracking China’s People's Liberation Army (PLA) movements during the latest round of Chinese drills around Taiwan. The PLA began "Justice Mission 2025" drills today, carrying out live-fire drills, simulated strikes on land and maritime targets, and exercises to blockade the nation's main ports. The exercises are to continue tomorrow, with the PLA announcing sea and air space restrictions for five zones around Taiwan for 10 hours starting from 8:30am. The ministry today released images showing a Chinese J-16 fighter jet tracked by a F-16V Block 20 jet and the
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