Former president Lee Teng-hui (李登輝) yesterday departed for Japan on a one-week private visit, his sixth such trip in 14 years.
Lee said prior to his departure that he would use the opportunity to discuss with Japanese experts issues related to cancer treatment, solar photovoltaic energy and livestock breeding.
Accompanied by his wife, Tseng Wen-hui (曾文惠), and their two daughters, Anna Lee (李安娜) and Annie Lee (李安妮), the 91-year-old landed at Osaka airport.
Photo: Chu Pei-hsiung, Taipei Times
According to the Friends of Lee Teng-hui Association, which helped organize the trip, Lee will deliver a speech in Osaka today, before traveling to Tokyo on Sunday, where he is scheduled to give another speech and tour renewable energy facilities.
His last stop is in Hokkaido on Tuesday, where Lee is scheduled to visit livestock breeding and dairy businesses, the association said.
Lee, the nation’s first democratically elected president and an outspoken supporter of Taiwanese independence, last visited Japan in September 2009.
The current tour is Lee’s sixth visit to Japan since May 2000, when he retired after having been in office for 12 years.
The first Taiwan-born president, Lee spent 22 years under Japanese rule — from when he was born in 1923 until the period ended in 1945 — and has expressed affection for the nation’s former colonial ruler.
Hong Kong-based American singer-songwriter Khalil Fong (方大同) has passed away at the age of 41, Fong’s record label confirmed yesterday. “With unwavering optimism in the face of a relentless illness for five years, Khalil Fong gently and gracefully bid farewell to this world on the morning of February 21, 2025, stepping into the next realm of existence to carry forward his purpose and dreams,” Fu Music wrote on the company’s official Facebook page. “The music and graphic novels he gifted to the world remain an eternal testament to his luminous spirit, a timeless treasure for generations to come,” it said. Although Fong’s
China’s military buildup in the southern portion of the first island chain poses a serious threat to Taiwan’s liquefied natural gas (LNG) supply, a defense analyst warned. Writing in a bulletin on the National Defense and Security Research’s Web site on Thursday, Huang Tsung-ting (黃宗鼎) said that China might choke off Taiwan’s energy supply without it. Beginning last year, China entrenched its position in the southern region of the first island chain, often with Russia’s active support, he said. In May of the same year, a Chinese People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) force consisting of a Type 054A destroyer, Type 055 destroyer,
Actor Darren Wang (王大陸) was questioned by prosecutors for allegedly orchestrating an attack on a taxi driver after he was allegedly driven on a longer than necessary route in a car he disliked. The questioning at the New Taipei City District Prosecutors’ Office was ongoing as of press time last night. Police have recommended charges of attempted murder. The legally embattled actor — known for his role in the coming-of-age film Our Times (我的少女時代) — is under a separate investigation for allegedly using fake medical documents to evade mandatory military service. According to local media reports, police said Wang earlier last year ordered a
POLICY UNCHANGED? Despite Trump’s remarks, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio assured that US policy toward Taiwan has remained consistent since the 1970s US President Donald Trump on Wednesday again refused to make clear his stance on protecting Taiwan from a hypothetical takeover by China during his presidency. Asked by a reporter during a Cabinet meeting whether it was his policy that China would never take Taiwan by force while he is president, Trump declined to give a definitive answer. “I never comment on that,” he said. “I don’t comment on it because I don’t want to ever put myself in that position.” Trump also reiterated that he has a “great relationship” with Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) and said that Washington welcomes good relations with
RSS