US President Barack Obama, who is visiting Laos for an annual ASEAN summit, yesterday mentioned Taiwan as an example of a flourishing Asian democracy during an address on the sidelines of the summit.
In his speech to the people of Laos at the Lao National Cultural Hall, Obama, the first sitting US president to set foot in the country, acknowledged the devastation caused by a US bombing campaign during the Vietnam War and pledged US$90 million to help clean up unexploded bombs, highlighting the bond and new partnership between the two countries.
However, he also said that the two governments would continue to have differences, adding that the US would continue to speak up on what it considers to be universal human rights, including the rights of the Laotian people to express themselves freely and decide their own future.
Later in the speech, Obama said he believes that “nations are stronger and more successful when they uphold human rights.”
“And we know that democracy can flourish in Asia, because we’ve seen it thrive, from Japan and South Korea to Taiwan,” he said.
Obama said citizens across Asia have shaped their own futures, adding that Americans believe that freedom of speech and assembly, a free press and access to information and an open Internet make a country stronger.
Laos is hosting the ASEAN summit and is Obama’s final stop in Asia before he leaves office.
A tropical depression east of the Philippines became a tropical storm early yesterday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said, less than a week after a typhoon barreled across the nation. The agency issued an advisory at 3:30am stating that the 22nd tropical storm, named Yinxing, of the Pacific typhoon season formed at 2am. As of 8am, the storm was 1,730km southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost point, with a 100km radius. It was moving west-northwest at 32kph, with maximum sustained winds of 83kph and gusts of up to 108kph. Based on its current path, the storm is not expected to hit Taiwan, CWA
Residents have called on the Taipei City Government to reconsider its plan to demolish a four-decades-old pedestrian overpass near Daan Forest Park. The 42-year-old concrete and steel structure that serves as an elevated walkway over the intersection of Heping and Xinsheng roads is to be closed on Tuesday in preparation for demolition slated for completion by the end of the month. However, in recent days some local residents have been protesting the planned destruction of the intersection overpass that is rendered more poetically as “sky bridge” in Chinese. “This bridge carries the community’s collective memory,” said a man surnamed Chuang
A tropical depression east of the Philippines became a tropical storm earlier today, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The 22nd tropical storm, named Yinxing, in this year's Pacific typhoon season formed at 2am, the CWA said. As of 8am, the storm was 1,730km southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻) with a 100km radius, it said. It was moving west-northwest at 32kph, with maximum sustained winds of 83kph and gusts of up to 108kph. Based on its current path, the storm is not expected to hit Taiwan, CWA meteorologist Huang En-hung (黃恩宏) said. However, a more accurate forecast would be made on Wednesday, when Yinxing is
NEW DESTINATIONS: Marketing campaigns to attract foreign travelers have to change from the usual promotions about Alishan and Taroko Gorge, the transport minister said The number of international tourists visiting Taiwan is estimated to top 8 million by the end of this year, Minister of Transportation and Communications Chen Shi-kai (陳世凱) said yesterday, adding that the ministry has not changed its goal of attracting 10 million foreign travelers this year. Chen made the remarks at a meeting of the legislature’s Transportation Committee to brief lawmakers about the ministry’s plan to boost foreign visitor arrivals. Last month, Chen told the committee that the nation might attract only 7.5 million tourists from overseas this year and that when the ministry sets next year’s goal, it would not include
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