Amid a recent war of words between Taiwan and China over the ancestral homeland of rising NBA star Jeremy Lin (林書豪), a US lawmaker yesterday stressed the Taiwanese American’s US roots during a meeting with President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九).
The US-born Lin, whose parents are Taiwanese immigrants, has been hailed as “the glory of Taiwan” and attracted discussions on his identity.
Meeting with visiting a US congressional delegation at the Presidential Office in the morning, Ma promoted bilateral relations between Taiwan and the US and said the two nations valued democracy and peace.
Photo: CNA
Besides, “we both appreciate Jeremy Lin,” Ma said.
US Representative Eni Faleomavaega from American Samoa, a ranking member on the US House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Asia and the Pacific, countered by stressing that Lin is a US citizen.
“I’m sorry to tell you that Jeremy Lin is an American, a true-blooded born American who happens to be of Taiwanese ancestry, and we are proud to have him,” he said, drawing laughs from Ma and the guests.
Faleomavaega then applauded the achievements of the 19 million Asian Americans in the US and said the US appreciated their accomplishments.
Ma stressed the government’s efforts in promoting relations with US and China and thanked Washington for its assistance to Taiwan as the country tries to improve relations with China.
“Replacing conflicts with reconciliation and replacing confrontations with negotiation will remain the principles of my cross-strait policies during my second term,” Ma said.
As to the bilateral relations between Taiwan and the US, the president said the two sides would continue to develop positive relations, while maintaining rounds of negotiations on major issues.
INFRASTRUCTURE: Work on the second segment, from Kaohsiung to Pingtung, is expected to begin in 2028 and be completed by 2039, the railway bureau said Planned high-speed rail (HSR) extensions would blanket Taiwan proper in four 90-minute commute blocs to facilitate regional economic and livelihood integration, Railway Bureau Deputy Director-General Yang Cheng-chun (楊正君) said in an interview published yesterday. A project to extend the high-speed rail from Zuoying Station in Kaohsiung to Pingtung County’s Lioukuaicuo Township (六塊厝) is the first part of the bureau’s greater plan to expand rail coverage, he told the Liberty Times (sister paper of the Taipei Times). The bureau’s long-term plan is to build a loop to circle Taiwan proper that would consist of four sections running from Taipei to Hualien, Hualien to
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Snow fell in the mountainous areas of northern, central and eastern Taiwan in the early hours of yesterday, as cold air currents moved south. In the northern municipality of Taoyuan, snow started falling at about 6am in Fusing District (復興), district head Su Tso-hsi (蘇佐璽) said. By 10am, Lalashan National Forest Recreation Area, as well as Hualing (華陵), Sanguang (三光) and Gaoyi (高義) boroughs had seen snowfall, Su said. In central Taiwan, Shei-Pa National Park in Miaoli County and Hehuanshan National Forest Recreation Area in Nantou County saw snowfall of 5cm and 6cm respectively, by 10am, staff at the parks said. It began snowing
The 2025 Kaohsiung Wonderland–Winter Amusement Park event has teamed up with the Japanese manga series Chiikawa this year for its opening at Love River Bay yesterday, attracting more than 10,000 visitors, the city government said. Following the success of the “2024 Kaohsiung Wonderland” collaboration with a giant inflatable yellow duck installation designed by Dutch artist Florentijn Hofman, this year the Kaohsiung Tourism Bureau collaborated with Chiikawa by Japanese illustrator Nagano to present two giant inflatable characters. Two inflatable floats — the main character, Chiikwa, a white bear-like creature with round ears, and Hachiware, a white cat with a blue-tipped tail
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