Taiwan’s eight-member legislative delegation to the inauguration of US president-elect Donald Trump has received invitations to watch the livestream of the event in Capital One Arena, one of the lawmakers said yesterday.
Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Wang Ting-yu (王定宇) said the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) and Taiwan’s representative office to the US secured four tickets to watch the inauguration livestream in a VIP room in the arena.
Those four tickets will go the leader of the delegation, Legislative Speaker Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜), Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Ko Chih-en (柯志恩), Chen Gau-tzu (陳昭姿) of the Taiwan People’s Party, and himself, Wang said.
Photo courtesy of Democratic Progressive Party lawmaker Wang Ting-yu via CNA
The other four lawmakers in the delegation, Chen Kuan- ting (陳冠廷) and Kuo Yu-ching (郭昱晴) of the DPP and Lee Yen-hsiu (李彥秀) and Ko Ju-chun (葛如鈞) of the KMT, will be watching the livestream inside the arena, Wang said.
In a Facebook post, Wang also posted a group photograph showing himself and his fellow lawmakers riding on the Washington Metro system heading to the arena for the event.
Due to sub-zero temperatures forecast for Washington yesterday, Trump’s inauguration ceremony was moved to inside the Capitol Rotunda instead of on the steps of the Capitol, leading to a significant reduction of the number of guests at the ceremony.
MOFA said last week that the Capitol Rotunda will accommodate only a limited number of attendees, mainly members of Congress, senior government officials and Trump’s family.
Therefore, many international guests, including the Taiwan delegation, would not be able to attend the inauguration ceremony, it said.
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