Democratic Progressive Party Chairperson Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) arrived in Washington yesterday to a cheering crowd.
More than 100 supporters braved stormy weather and a delay of more than two hours to her arrival at Ronald Reagan National Airport to welcome her to the US capital.
The supporters unfurled large banners, sang songs and shouted dong suan — Hoklo, also known as Taiwanese, for “get elected.”
Tsai briefly addressed the supporters in Hoklo, saying that she was greatly touched by their passion.
On Tsai’s flight from Chicago, American Airlines announced that presidential candidate Tsai and a media delegation were onboard, only to identify her as a presidential candidate from Thailand rather than Taiwan.
Accompanying Tsai were DPP representative to the US Joseph Wu (吳釗燮) and former minister of foreign affairs James Huang (黃志芳).
Deputy Representative to the US Ann Hung (洪慧珠) was also on hand to welcome Tsai.
Tsai is expected to meet with officials from the US government, Congress and think tanks during her stay in the capital, which is to last until Friday.
Former National Security Council official Antonio Chiang (江春男) is to accompany Tsai on her visits during the stay. Tsai was not scheduled to make any public appearances yesterday, but is to give a speech at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a US think tank, and attend a welcome party at the US Congress today.
The most-senior US officials DPP presidential candidates have met in Washington have been a US deputy secretary of state and a White House National Security Council deputy national security adviser. A possible meeting between Tsai and US Deputy Secretary of State Antony Blinken is being closely watched.
Asked about the possibility of meeting Blinken, Tsai would only say that she appreciates the arrangements the US has made for her.
“It is not convenient for us to divulge with whom and when we will meet,” she said.
US Department of State spokeswoman Marie Harf welcomed Tsai’s visit and said the US looks forward to exchanges with her.
During Tsai’s stay in Chicago, she called on several political academics at the University of Chicago, as well as Nobel Laureate James Heckman, to discuss economic and education issues.
She also met with University of Chicago professor John Mearsheimer, author of the article Say Goodbye to Taiwan published last year that predicts China’s continued rise would make it increasingly difficult for the US to defend Taiwan.
Mearsheimer spoke with Tsai about what he meant by the article, clarifying that he by no means was urging the US to abandon Taiwan — a strategic vantage point for the US — and it would cause a crisis of confidence among US allies should Washington do so.
Taiwan yesterday condemned the recent increase in Chinese coast guard-escorted fishing vessels operating illegally in waters around the Pratas Islands (Dongsha Islands, 東沙群島) in the South China Sea. Unusually large groupings of Chinese fishing vessels began to appear around the islands on Feb. 15, when at least six motherships and 29 smaller boats were sighted, the Coast Guard Administration (CGA) said in a news release. While CGA vessels were dispatched to expel the Chinese boats, Chinese coast guard ships trespassed into Taiwan’s restricted waters and unsuccessfully attempted to interfere, the CGA said. Due to the provocation, the CGA initiated an operation to increase
A crowd of over 200 people gathered outside the Taipei District Court as two sisters indicted for abusing a 1-year-old boy to death attended a preliminary hearing in the case yesterday afternoon. The crowd held up signs and chanted slogans calling for aggravated penalties in child abuse cases and asking for no bail and “capital punishment.” They also held white flowers in memory of the boy, nicknamed Kai Kai (剴剴), who was allegedly tortured to death by the sisters in December 2023. The boy died four months after being placed in full-time foster care with the
The Shanlan Express (山嵐號), or “Mountain Mist Express,” is scheduled to launch on April 19 as part of the centennial celebration of the inauguration of the Taitung Line. The tourism express train was renovated from the Taiwan Railway Corp’s EMU500 commuter trains. It has four carriages and a seating capacity of 60 passengers. Lion Travel is arranging railway tours for the express service. Several news outlets were invited to experience the pilot tour on the new express train service, which is to operate between Hualien Railway Station and Chihshang (池上) Railway Station in Taitung County. It would also be the first tourism service
‘MALIGN PURPOSE’: Governments around the world conduct espionage operations, but China’s is different, as its ultimate goal is annexation, a think tank head said Taiwan is facing a growing existential threat from its own people spying for China, experts said, as the government seeks to toughen measures to stop Beijing’s infiltration efforts and deter Taiwanese turncoats. While Beijing and Taipei have been spying on each other for years, experts said that espionage posed a bigger threat to Taiwan due to the risk of a Chinese attack. Taiwan’s intelligence agency said China used “diverse channels and tactics” to infiltrate the nation’s military, government agencies and pro-China organizations. The main targets were retired and active members of the military, persuaded by money, blackmail or pro-China ideology to steal
RSS