President William Lai (賴清德) is to depart on his first overseas trip since taking office later this month, visiting the nation’s allies in the Pacific from Saturday next week to Dec. 6, the Presidential Office confirmed this morning.
The president’s itinerary is to take him to Palau, Tuvalu and the Marshall Islands, office spokeswoman Karen Kuo (郭雅慧) told a news conference.
The theme of the trip is prosperity and smart sustainability, Kuo said.
Photo: Tu Chien-jung, Taipei Times
Lai hopes to achieve three core sustainability goals, she said.
“Smart” sustainability would be achieved through sharing experiences with allies to cobuild resilient economies, she said.
Next is democratic sustainability, which is deepened through cooperation with like-minded partners, she said.
The third goal is sustainability of allied friendship, developing all areas of cooperation through mutual assistance and reciprocity for the well-being of citizens of both countries, she added.
Joining Lai on the trip would be Presidential Office Secretary-General Pan Men-an (潘孟安), Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍), Presidential Office Deputy Secretary-General Xavier Chang (張惇涵), Overseas Community Affairs Council Minister Hsu Chia-ching (徐佳青), Ocean Affairs Council Minister Kuan Bi-ling (管碧玲), Council of Indigenous Peoples Minister Ljaucu Zingrur and Deputy Minister of Health and Welfare Lin Ching-yi (林靜儀), the office said.
The office made no mention of a stopover in the US state of Hawaii or territory of Guam, as reported by Reuters last week.
Asked whether Lai would stop in the US as part of the trip, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Tien Chung-kwang (田中光) told reporters that “the arrangements for the transits are still being carefully planned, and it is not convenient to disclose details at this time.”
Additional reporting by Bloomberg
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