An estimated 530 foreign delegates are expected to attend president-elect Ma Ying-jeou's (馬英九) presidential inauguration next Tuesday, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said yesterday.
"There are more than 530 foreign guests, including special envoys from 22 out of 23 diplomatic allies, that will attend the inauguration ceremony," MOFA spokeswoman Phoebe Yeh (葉非比) said at a press briefing.
When asked why Paraguayan President Nicanor Frutos changed his plans for attending the ceremony, Yeh said the decision might have come as the result of the ruling party's defeat in the country's presidential election last month.
"The president-elect of Paraguay [Fernando Lugo] will assume office in August and it might be under such consideration that the outgoing president will not come to Taiwan," she said.
The diplomatic ties between Taiwan and the South American country are being closely watched as Paraguayan president-elect Lugo has repeatedly stated, before and after the election, that he wants to establish closer relations with China.
The Caribbean allies of Haiti and the Dominican Republic are planning to dispatch a presidential office secretary-general and a ministerial level official, respectively, to the ceremony, Yeh said.
She added that although Saint Lucian President Stephenson King would not be available for the ceremony, he would pay a state visit to Taiwan later this year.
Yeh said that countries without diplomatic relations with Taiwan are also enthusiastic about Ma's inauguration. The US will have the largest foreign presence at the ceremony, with 120 dignitaries, including congresspeople, academics and former government officials participating in the event.
A five-member delegation, led by former White House chief of staff Andrew Card, is expected to attract the most attention among the foreign guests.
The other members of Card's delegation are AIT Chairman Raymond Burghardt, American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) Director Stephen Young, former Massachusetts lieutenant governor Kerry Healey, and Frank Fahrenkopf, a member on the board of the International Republic Institute, a statement issued last week by AIT said.
Japan is expected to have around 76 representatives attending the festivities.
Tokyo Governor Ishihara Shintaro, Mayor of Yokohama Nakada Hiroshi and Okinawa Governor Nakaima Hirokazu have all confirmed their visits, Yeh said.
Parliamentarians, think tank representatives and academics from Australia, New Zealand, South Korea, the UK, Peru and Venezuela are also expected to come, she said.
‘DENIAL DEFENSE’: The US would increase its military presence with uncrewed ships, and submarines, while boosting defense in the Indo-Pacific, a Pete Hegseth memo said The US is reorienting its military strategy to focus primarily on deterring a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan, a memo signed by US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth showed. The memo also called on Taiwan to increase its defense spending. The document, known as the “Interim National Defense Strategic Guidance,” was distributed this month and detailed the national defense plans of US President Donald Trump’s administration, an article in the Washington Post said on Saturday. It outlines how the US can prepare for a potential war with China and defend itself from threats in the “near abroad,” including Greenland and the Panama
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) is maintaining close ties with Beijing, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) said yesterday, hours after a new round of Chinese military drills in the Taiwan Strait began. Political parties in a democracy have a responsibility to be loyal to the nation and defend its sovereignty, DPP spokesman Justin Wu (吳崢) told a news conference in Taipei. His comments came hours after Beijing announced via Chinese state media that the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s Eastern Theater Command was holding large-scale drills simulating a multi-pronged attack on Taiwan. Contrary to the KMT’s claims that it is staunchly anti-communist, KMT Deputy
RESPONSE: The government would investigate incidents of Taiwanese entertainers in China promoting CCP propaganda online in contravention of the law, the source said Taiwanese entertainers living in China who are found to have contravened cross-strait regulations or collaborated with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) could be subject to fines, a source said on Sunday. Several Taiwanese entertainers have posted on the social media platform Sina Weibo saying that Taiwan “must be returned” to China, and sharing news articles from Chinese state media. In response, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) has asked the Ministry of Culture to investigate whether the entertainers had contravened any laws, and asked for them to be questioned upon their return to Taiwan, an official familiar with the matter said. To curb repeated
Myanmar has turned down an offer of assistance from Taiwanese search-and-rescue teams after a magnitude 7.7 earthquake struck the nation on Friday last week, saying other international aid is sufficient, the National Fire Agency said yesterday. More than 1,700 have been killed and 3,400 injured in the quake that struck near the central Myanmar city of Mandalay early on Friday afternoon, followed minutes later by a magnitude 6.7 aftershock. Worldwide, 13 international search-and-rescue teams have been deployed, with another 13 teams mobilizing, the agency said. Taiwan’s search-and-rescue teams were on standby, but have since been told to stand down, as
RSS