A US Department of State official arrived in Taipei last night for a three-day visit, the first to arrive following the enactment of the US’ Taiwan Travel Act on Friday last week.
Alex Wong (黃之瀚), deputy assistant secretary at the Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs, is scheduled to deliver remarks at the American Chamber of Commerce (AmCham) in Taipei’s annual Hsieh Nien Fan (謝年飯) banquet tonight, the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) said in a news release yesterday.
President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) will also attend the AmCham banquet and deliver a speech.
Photo: screen grab from the US Department of State Web site
Wong is also scheduled to meet with Taiwanese official to discuss various issues connected to Taiwan-US relations, the AIT statement said.
AIT spokeswoman Sonia Urbom dismissed the idea of a link between Wong’s visit and the enactment of the Taiwan Travel Act — which encourages visits by high-level US and Taiwanese officials — saying the trip had been planned for some time.
Wong, a political appointee, took office on Dec. 11 last year. He previously served as foreign policy adviser and general counsel to US Senator Tom Cotton, a Republican.
He was foreign and legal policy director for former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney’s 2012 presidential campaign, and worked as an adviser to the State Department’s Iraq Rule of Law office from 2007 to 2009.
Sources said Wong is in charge of US President Donald Trump’s Indo-Pacific initiatives.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a statement welcoming Wong, and said his visit would allow US government agencies to gain a better understanding of Taiwan’s political and economic development, as well as its defense and cross-strait policies.
“Wong’s visit not only underscores the friendship between Taipei and Washington, but is also conducive to deepening the two sides’ partnership,” the ministry said.
The ministry said they would also exchange opinions with Wong on the future development of Taiwan-US ties and the two nations’ cooperation in the Indo-Pacific region.
Super Typhoon Kong-rey is the largest cyclone to impact Taiwan in 27 years, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said today. Kong-rey’s radius of maximum wind (RMW) — the distance between the center of a cyclone and its band of strongest winds — has expanded to 320km, CWA forecaster Chang Chun-yao (張竣堯) said. The last time a typhoon of comparable strength with an RMW larger than 300km made landfall in Taiwan was Typhoon Herb in 1996, he said. Herb made landfall between Keelung and Suao (蘇澳) in Yilan County with an RMW of 350km, Chang said. The weather station in Alishan (阿里山) recorded 1.09m of
STORM’S PATH: Kong-Rey could be the first typhoon to make landfall in Taiwan in November since Gilda in 1967. Taitung-Green Island ferry services have been halted Tropical Storm Kong-rey is forecast to strengthen into a typhoon early today and could make landfall in Taitung County between late Thursday and early Friday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. As of 2pm yesterday, Kong-Rey was 1,030km east-southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), the nation’s southernmost point, and was moving west at 7kph. The tropical storm was packing maximum sustained winds of 101kph, with gusts of up to 126 kph, CWA data showed. After landing in Taitung, the eye of the storm is forecast to move into the Taiwan Strait through central Taiwan on Friday morning, the agency said. With the storm moving
NO WORK, CLASS: President William Lai urged people in the eastern, southern and northern parts of the country to be on alert, with Typhoon Kong-rey approaching Typhoon Kong-rey is expected to make landfall on Taiwan’s east coast today, with work and classes canceled nationwide. Packing gusts of nearly 300kph, the storm yesterday intensified into a typhoon and was expected to gain even more strength before hitting Taitung County, the US Navy’s Joint Typhoon Warning Center said. The storm is forecast to cross Taiwan’s south, enter the Taiwan Strait and head toward China, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The CWA labeled the storm a “strong typhoon,” the most powerful on its scale. Up to 1.2m of rainfall was expected in mountainous areas of eastern Taiwan and destructive winds are likely
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) yesterday at 5:30pm issued a sea warning for Typhoon Kong-rey as the storm drew closer to the east coast. As of 8pm yesterday, the storm was 670km southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻) and traveling northwest at 12kph to 16kph. It was packing maximum sustained winds of 162kph and gusts of up to 198kph, the CWA said. A land warning might be issued this morning for the storm, which is expected to have the strongest impact on Taiwan from tonight to early Friday morning, the agency said. Orchid Island (Lanyu, 蘭嶼) and Green Island (綠島) canceled classes and work
RSS