Former US president Bill Clinton is scheduled to make a low-key visit to Taipei next week, his first visit since 1988, sponsors of the trip said yesterday.
Clinton is to arrive in Taipei either next Wednesday or Thursday, the Chinese-language newspaper that is organizing his visit said yesterday.
Clinton's sole public appearance that will be open to the press will be a speech entitled, "Our Shared Future: Globalization in the 21st Century." The speech is scheduled to take place at Taipei's International Convention Center, organizers said.
Continuing a career that has involved many firsts, Clinton's trip to Taipei next week will be the first time that a former US president has visited Taiwan less than a year after stepping down from office.
Clinton was also the first president born after World War II, the first Democrat since Franklin D. Roosevelt to be elected to a second term and the first to face impeachment hearings over deceptions about an affair with a White House intern half his age.
Organizers believe that the visit coming so soon after Clinton's leaving office is the reason that most of the itinerary during his visit to Taipei will not be open to the press.
"He is the former US president who has just left office ... It's not convenient for me to speak on his behalf, but surely they'll have some sensitive considerations," George Shuang (
Shuang declined to specify the price the newspaper had paid to invite Clinton to Taiwan. Clinton reportedly receives US$100,000 for each of his speaking engagements.
Clinton is scheduled to meet President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) during his visit next week, but details have still to be finalized, Shuang said.
"As for the meeting between President Chen and Clinton, we are still studying the formula, timing and location," he said.
Clinton has visited Taiwan four times in the past -- in 1979, 1985, 1986 and 1988 -- while serving as the governor of Arkansas, sources in the foreign ministry said.
Clinton is currently in the middle of an Asian tour which will span the region from Australia to Japan from Sept. 6 to Sept. 18, his spokeswoman Julia Payne said on Wednesday.
Payne said that Clinton would not be stopping in Hong Kong on this trip, but declined to specify the details of his other planned stops.
Tonight Clinton will attend a charity dinner in Sydney.
The Children's Hospital in the Sydney suburb of Westmead will benefit from a speech by Clinton at the event, with guests paying A$1,100 (US$572) each to attend.
"It's a very good cause and we're hoping we can make A$1 million [US$520,000] profit from the night," publicist Max Markson said.
Tropical Storm Gaemi strengthened into a typhoon at 2pm yesterday, and could make landfall in Yilan County tomorrow, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. The agency was scheduled to issue a sea warning at 11:30pm yesterday, and could issue a land warning later today. Gaemi was moving north-northwest at 4kph, carrying maximum sustained winds near its center of up to 118.8kph and gusts of 154.8kph. The circumference is forecast to reach eastern Taiwan tomorrow morning, with the center making landfall in Yilan County later that night before departing from the north coast, CWA weather forecaster Kuan Shin-ping (官欣平) said yesterday. Uncertainty remains and
SEA WARNING LIKELY: The storm, named Gaemi, could become a moderate typhoon on Wednesday or Thursday, with the Taipei City Government preparing for flooding A tropical depression east of the Philippines developed into a tropical storm named Gaemi at 2pm yesterday, and was moving toward eastern Taiwan, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. Gaemi could begin to affect Taiwan proper on Tuesday, lasting until Friday, and could develop into a moderate typhoon on Wednesday or Thursday, it said. A sea warning for Gaemi could be issued as early as Tuesday morning, it added. Gaemi, the third tropical storm in the Pacific Ocean this typhoon season, is projected to begin moving northwest today, and be closest to Taiwan on Wednesday or Thursday, the agency said. Today, there would likely
DISRUPTIONS: The high-speed rail is to operate as normal, while several airlines either canceled flights or announced early departures or late arrivals Schools and offices in 15 cities and counties are to be closed today due to Typhoon Gaemi, local governments announced last night. The 15 are: Taipei, New Taipei City, Taoyuan, Tainan, Keelung, Hsinchu and Kaohsiung, as well as Yilan, Hualien, Hsinchu, Miaoli, Chiayi, Pingtung, Penghu and Lienchiang counties. People should brace for torrential rainfall brought by the storm, with its center forecast to make landfall on the east coast between tonight and tomorrow morning, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The agency issued a sea warning for the typhoon at 11:30pm on Monday, followed by a land warning at 11:30am yesterday. As of
CASUALTY: A 70-year-old woman was killed by a falling tree in Kaohsiung as the premier warned all government agencies to remain on high alert for the next 24 hours Schools and offices nationwide are to be closed for a second day today as Typhoon Gaemi crosses over the nation, bringing torrential rain and whipping winds. Gaemi was forecast to make landfall late last night. From Tuesday night, its outer band brought substantial rainfall and strong winds to the nation. As of 6:15pm last night, the typhoon’s center was 20km southeast of Hualien County, Central Weather Administration (CWA) data showed. It was moving at 19kph and had a radius of 250km. As of 3pm yesterday, one woman had died, while 58 people were injured, the Central Emergency Operation Center said. The 70-year-old