The government has yet to decide who will represent President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) at the informal APEC leaders’ summit in Peru in the middle of November, a foreign ministry official said on Monday.
The official made the remarks after Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) lonorary chairman Lien Chan (連戰) had reportedly been designated special envoy for the summit.
Taiwanese presidents are barred from taking part in the meeting because of obstruction from Beijing and must name a proxy to attend on their behalf.
The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said that the decision on the envoy need not be rushed, as Peru has yet to send an envoy to Taiwan to deliver the invitation.
Based on past practice, the envoy from the host country would visit Taiwan twice, the official said, adding that during the first visit the envoy would inform Taipei of the theme of the meetings and their schedule.
During the second visit, the envoy would be apprised by Taipei of the identity of Taiwan’s envoy, the official said.
The Peruvian envoy is expected to visit late this month or early next month, the official said.
At present, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is still in talks with the Presidential Office over the matter, the official said.
Among others, Taiwan has sent Nobel laureate Lee Yuan-tseh (李遠哲) and corporate heads to participate at the summits.
Taipei and New Taipei City government officials are aiming to have the first phase of the Wanhua-Jungho-Shulin Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) line completed and opened by 2027, following the arrival of the first train set yesterday. The 22km-long Light Green Line would connect four densely populated districts in Taipei and New Taipei City: Wanhua (萬華), Jhonghe (中和), Tucheng (土城) and Shulin (樹林). The first phase of the project would connect Wanhua and Jhonghe districts, with Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall and Chukuang (莒光) being the terminal stations. The two municipalities jointly hosted a ceremony for the first train to be used
MILITARY AID: Taiwan has received a first batch of US long-range tactical missiles ahead of schedule, with a second shipment expected to be delivered by 2026 The US’ early delivery of long-range tactical ballistic missiles to Taiwan last month carries political and strategic significance, a military source said yesterday. According to the Ministry of National Defense’s budget report, the batch of military hardware from the US, including 11 sets of M142 High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS) and 64 MGM-140 Army Tactical Missile Systems, had been scheduled to be delivered to Taiwan between the end of this year and the beginning of next year. However, the first batch arrived last month, earlier than scheduled, with the second batch —18 sets of HIMARS, 20 MGM-140 missiles and 864 M30
Representative to the US Alexander Yui delivered a letter from the government to US president-elect Donald Trump during a meeting with a former Trump administration official, CNN reported yesterday. Yui on Thursday met with former US national security adviser Robert O’Brien over a private lunch in Salt Lake City, Utah, with US Representative Chris Stewart, the Web site of the US cable news channel reported, citing three sources familiar with the matter. “During that lunch the letter was passed along, and then shared with Trump, two of the sources said,” CNN said. O’Brien declined to comment on the lunch, as did the Taipei
A woman who allegedly attacked a high-school student with a utility knife, injuring his face, on a Taipei metro train late on Friday has been transferred to prosecutors, police said yesterday. The incident occurred near MRT Xinpu Station at about 10:17pm on a Bannan Line train headed toward Dingpu, New Taipei City police said. Before police arrived at the station to arrest the suspect, a woman surnamed Wang (王) who is in her early 40s, she had already been subdued by four male passengers, one of whom was an off-duty Taipei police officer, police said. The student, 17, who sustained a cut about
RSS