The Presidential Office said yesterday it was too early to tell whether President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) would attend the leaders’ summit in Solomon Islands in October.
Minister of Foreign Affairs Francisco Ou (歐鴻鍊) said during an interview with Radio Taiwan International on Monday that Ma was likely to attend a summit of leaders of Taiwan and its South Pacific allies in the Solomon Islands in October.
However, Presidential Office Spokesman Wang Yu-chi (王郁琦) said it was too early to tell whether the trip would proceed.
As for the two trips the ministry is arranging for Ma later this month and in July, Wang said they were just proposals and the one scheduled for July had yet to be finalized.
Ma is scheduled to embark on a 10-day visit to Central America from May 26 through June 4. The main purpose is to attend the June 1 inauguration of El Salvadoran president-elect Mauricio Funes.
The trip will also include a visit to Belize, a diplomatic source said yesterday on condition of anonymity.
Ma would also travel to Guatemala and Belize, the source said.
Another source confirmed the arrangement last week, saying that Ma would go to Belize rather than Honduras as initially planned.
Last Wednesday the Ministry of Foreign Affairs rebutted a newspaper report that Ma’s plan to visit Honduras had been called off by Honduran President Mel Zelaya because one of Taiwan’s foreign aid programs there had been suspended.
The ministry is also arranging for Ma to visit Panama in July to attend the inauguration of the country’s next president.
Central and South America and the Caribbean are Taiwan’s diplomatic strongholds, with many of its 23 diplomatic allies located there.
Ma, who met Solomon Islands Prime Minister Derek Sikua at the Presidential Office yesterday, said his administration attached great importance to its Pacific ally and hoped to strengthen bilateral ties.
Ma said Taiwan and the Solomon Islands have enjoyed stable relations and that Taipei would continue its projects there in medical care, agriculture, fishing and education.
Construction of a central hospital in Honiara was also near completion, Ma said.
Meanwhile, Wang said a blog could be launched for Ma, adding that the NT$1.6 million (US$50,000) budget would cover planning, design and salaries salaries.
ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY CNA
An undersea cable to Penghu County has been severed, the Ministry of Digital Affairs said today, with a Chinese-funded ship suspected of being responsible. It comes just a month after a Chinese ship was suspected of severing an undersea cable north of Keelung Harbor. The National Communications and Cyber Security Center received a report at 3:03am today from Chunghwa Telecom that the No. 3 cable from Taiwan to Penghu was severed 14.7km off the coast of Tainan, the Ministry of Digital Affairs said. The Coast Guard Administration (CGA) upon receiving a report from Chunghwa Telecom began to monitor the Togolese-flagged Hong Tai (宏泰)
EVA Air is prohibiting the use of portable chargers on board all flights starting from Saturday, while China Airlines is advising passengers not to use them, following the lead of South Korean airlines. Current regulations prohibit portable chargers and lithium batteries from check-in luggage and require them to be properly packed in carry-on baggage, EVA Air said. To improve onboard safety, portable chargers and spare lithium batteries would be prohibited from use on all fights starting on Saturday, it said. Passengers are advised to fully charge electronic devices before boarding and use the AC and USB charging outlets at their seat, it said. South
WAR SIMULATION: The developers of the board game ‘2045’ consulted experts and analysts, and made maps based on real-life Chinese People’s Liberation Army exercises To stop invading Chinese forces seizing Taiwan, board gamer Ruth Zhong chooses the nuclear option: Dropping an atomic bomb on Taipei to secure the nation’s freedom and her victory. The Taiwanese board game 2045 is a zero-sum contest of military strategy and individual self-interest that puts players on the front lines of a simulated Chinese attack. Their battlefield game tactics would determine the theoretical future of Taiwan, which in the real world faces the constant threat of a Chinese invasion. “The most interesting part of this game is that you have to make continuous decisions based on the evolving situation,
Actor Lee Wei (李威) was released on bail on Monday after being named as a suspect in the death of a woman whose body was found in the meeting place of a Buddhist group in Taipei’s Daan District (大安) last year, prosecutors said. Lee, 44, was released on NT$300,000 (US$9,148) bail, while his wife, surnamed Chien (簡), was released on NT$150,000 bail after both were summoned to give statements regarding the woman’s death. The home of Lee, who has retreated from the entertainment business in the past few years, was also searched by prosecutors and police earlier on Monday. Lee was questioned three
RSS