Francisco Santana, El Salvador’s ambassador to Taiwan, said yesterday it would be understandable if President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) cancels his trip to the Central American ally next month because of the global swine flu outbreak.
“We know that the outbreaks of the swine flu are of great concern [to many countries] at the moment. Therefore, it is understandable if President Ma cannot visit El Salvador should the disease continue to spread,” Santana said.
Ma is planning to visit three allies in Central America from May 27 to June 4. He is scheduled to attend the inauguration of El Salvador’s president-elect Mauricio Funes on June 1 and also travel to Guatemala and Honduras.
The outbreak of the new H1N1 swine flu and its spread across the globe has given rise to concerns about the president’s safety on his planned trip.
Deputy Foreign Minister Andrew Hsia (夏立言) said yesterday that Ma’s travel plans remain unchanged, but his ministry was collecting information on the spread of the disease and was evaluating all possibilities.
“If a red travel alert is issued for any of the countries that the president is planning to visit, of course he will not enter those countries,” he said.
So far, the ministry has issued a red travel alert — its most serious travel advisory alert — for Mexico, warning local travelers not to visit the country because of the spread of the swine flu from Mexico to the rest of the world.
It has issued a yellow travel alert for the US, Canada and Costa Rica, advising travelers to exercise caution when traveling to those countries.
READY: The CGA said it closely monitored China’s maritime exercise, deployed vessels to shadow the Chinese ships one-on-one and set up emergency response centers Chinese navy and coast guard ships have returned to China, signaling the end of a massive maritime exercise, authorities said yesterday. The Coast Guard Administration (CGA) released images it said showed Chinese vessels sailing north in rough seas past Taiwan on Thursday, on their way to China. “All the Chinese coast guard went back to China yesterday, so although they have not officially made any announcement, we consider it over,” CGA Deputy Director-General Hsieh Ching-chin (謝慶欽) said. Beijing has not confirmed the drills and the Chinese Ministry of National Defense did not say whether the maneuvers had taken place when asked at a
People can take the Taipei MRT free of charge if they access it at Nanjing Sanmin Station or Taipei Arena Station on the Green Line between 12am and 6am on Jan. 1, the Taipei Department of Transportation said on Friday, outlining its plans to ease crowding during New Year’s events in the capital. More than 200,000 people are expected to attend New Year’s Eve events in Taipei, with singer A-mei (張惠妹) performing at the Taipei Dome and the city government’s New Year’s Eve party at Taipei City Hall Plaza, the department said. As people have tended to use the MRT’s Blue or
PUBLIC TRANSPORT: As some roads would be fully or partially closed, people are advised to take the MRT, with services expanded to accommodate more riders This year’s Taipei Marathon, which has obtained its first gold label certification from World Athletics, is to be held from 5am to 1pm tomorrow and would have 28,000 participants. The race is to start from the Taipei City Plaza and would go through major roads throughout the city, with traffic control implemented from 6am to 2pm, officials said. The Taipei Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) system and New Taipei City MRT Circle line would start operating at 5am on the day of the race, they said. The race would cover Renai Road, Xinyi Road, Hangzhou S Road, Aiguo east and west roads,
Taiwanese professional baseball should update sports stadiums and boost engagement to enhance fans’ experience, Chinese Professional Baseball League (CPBL) commissioner Tsai Chi-chang (蔡其昌) told the Liberty Times (sister paper of the Taipei Times) in an interview on Friday. The league has urged Farglory Group and the Taipei City Government to improve the Taipei Dome’s outdated equipment, including relatively rudimentary television and sound systems, and poor technology, he said. The Tokyo Dome has markedly better television and sound systems, despite being 30 years old, because its managers continually upgraded its equipment, Tsai said. In contrast, the Taipei Dome lacked even a room for referees
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