President William Lai (賴清德) has no plans to make an overseas visit in the near future, a spokesperson for Lai said yesterday, after local and foreign media had reported earlier this month that he would visit Paraguay next month with stops in the US.
"In consideration of the ongoing rehabilitation efforts in southern Taiwan following a recent typhoon and regional developments including the US' tariffs, the president currently has no plans to go on an overseas visit," Presidential Office spokesperson Karen Kuo (郭雅慧) said in a statement.
Photo: Ann Wang, Reuters
As usual, once the itinerary of an overseas visit by the president is finalized, the office would notify the media, Kuo said in response to recent queries about plans to alter or cancel overseas visits by Lai.
An Agence France-Presse report on July 14 cited Paraguayan President Santiago Pena as saying at an investment forum that day that Lai would visit his country "in 30 days."
At the time Pena made the comment, he was hosting a delegation comprising about 30 business leaders and Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) in Asuncion, the report said.
Bloomberg News reported two days later that Lai was planning to stop in New York on Monday next week and then Dallas 10 days later as part of a trip to diplomatic allies Paraguay, Guatemala and Belize.
However, a Bloomberg report yesterday said that planning for the trip was thrown into flux late last week, when Taiwan could not get the US to give the green light, with the administration of US President Donald Trump concerned it could derail trade talks with China, anonymous sources said.
In response, Bloomberg quoted Presidential Office spokesperson Lii Wen (李問) as saying those claims were "pure speculation based on incorrect information."
Speaking Reuters, a person with direct knowledge of the matter said "there's no such thing as canceling the trip. In fact, further arrangement for the trip will be made later this year."
Stopovers were likely to include Texas and another city in the US mainland, the source said.
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