Taiwan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) confirmed yesterday that a business delegation is visiting the Philippines, but declined to say whether Foreign Minister Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) is part of the group.
The delegation is led by Deputy Agriculture Minister Huang Chao-chin (黃昭欽), Chinese International Economic Cooperation Association (CIECA) Chair Joseph Lyu (呂桔誠) and US-Taiwan Business Council (USTBC) Vice President Lotta Danielsson, MOFA said in a press release.
The trip follows a May MOU between CIECA and USTBC to expand Taiwan-US cooperation in third markets, MOFA said, adding that delegation members were agreed upon after negotiations with Manila.
Photo: CNA
Speculation grew after Philippine Senator Imee Marcos asked the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) to confirm reports that Lin was in the Philippines. Foreign Secretary Theresa Lazaro replied that her department had no knowledge of Lin's presence, saying it had only been informed of a USTBC business delegation led by Danielsson. "My response is — we are not responding to that question of whether there is a foreign minister in the delegation," Lazaro told lawmakers.
Marcos called Lin a "controversial, pro-independence advocate" and warned his reported visit could provoke backlash from China.
MOFA said the delegation includes representatives from the ICT, agriculture, ports, semiconductor, energy, logistics, manufacturing and tourism sectors. Their itinerary covers Subic Bay, New Clark City and Manila.
The visit comes after Manila in April eased restrictions on exchanges with Taiwan under Memorandum Circular No. 82, which amended a 1987 ban on official contacts. The change allows most government officials to travel to Taiwan for economic and trade purposes, though the president, vice president, and foreign and defense secretaries remain barred. Officials must also travel on ordinary passports and without official titles.
The circular still requires DFA or presidential clearance for any agreements with Taiwanese organizations. Taiwan's Foreign Ministry welcomed the new rules, saying they would help deepen cooperation.
Taiwan and the Philippines ended official diplomatic ties in 1975 but maintain close exchanges. The Philippines is Taiwan's third-largest source of migrant workers, with about 153,000 in the country as of August last year.
The Coast Guard Administration (CGA) yesterday said it had deployed patrol vessels to expel a China Coast Guard ship and a Chinese fishing boat near Pratas Island (Dongsha Island, 東沙群島) in the South China Sea. The China Coast Guard vessel was 28 nautical miles (52km) northeast of Pratas at 6:15am on Thursday, approaching the island’s restricted waters, which extend 24 nautical miles from its shoreline, the CGA’s Dongsha-Nansha Branch said in a statement. The Tainan, a 2,000-tonne cutter, was deployed by the CGA to shadow the Chinese ship, which left the area at 2:39pm on Friday, the statement said. At 6:31pm on Friday,
The Chinese People’s Liberation Army Navy’s (PLAN) third aircraft carrier, the Fujian, would pose a steep challenge to Taiwan’s ability to defend itself against a full-scale invasion, a defense expert said yesterday. Institute of National Defense and Security Research analyst Chieh Chung (揭仲) made the comment hours after the PLAN confirmed the carrier recently passed through the Taiwan Strait to conduct “scientific research tests and training missions” in the South China Sea. China has two carriers in operation — the Liaoning and the Shandong — with the Fujian undergoing sea trials. Although the PLAN needs time to train the Fujian’s air wing and
Taiwanese celebrities Hank Chen (陳漢典) and Lulu Huang (黃路梓茵) announced yesterday that they are planning to marry. Huang announced and posted photos of their engagement to her social media pages yesterday morning, joking that the pair were not just doing marketing for a new show, but “really getting married.” “We’ve decided to spend all of our future happy and hilarious moments together,” she wrote. The announcement, which was later confirmed by the talent agency they share, appeared to come as a surprise even to those around them, with veteran TV host Jacky Wu (吳宗憲) saying he was “totally taken aback” by the news. Huang,
The American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) put Taiwan in danger, Ma Ying-jeou Foundation director Hsiao Hsu-tsen (蕭旭岑) said yesterday, hours after the de facto US embassy said that Beijing had misinterpreted World War II-era documents to isolate Taiwan. The AIT’s comments harmed the Republic of China’s (ROC) national interests and contradicted a part of the “six assurances” stipulating that the US would not change its official position on Taiwan’s sovereignty, Hsiao said. The “six assurances,” which were given by then-US president Ronald Reagan to Taiwan in 1982, say that Washington would not set a date for ending arm sales to Taiwan, consult
RSS