Former premier Yu Shyi-kun is to lead a Taiwanese delegation to the inauguration of US president-elect Donald Trump next month, Presidential Office spokesman Alex Huang (黃重諺) said yesterday.
Yu, a senior Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) member who served as premier and secretary-general of the Presidential Office under the DPP administration of former president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁), is to lead an 11-member delegation that includes lawmakers from across the political spectrum to the Jan. 20 inauguration in Washington, Huang said.
The government is sending the delegation to show how much Taiwan values its close relationship with the US, but also in response to the US delegation that attended the inauguration of President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) in May, Huang said.
The US delegation was led by former US trade representative Ron Kirk.
The Taiwanese delegation is to include Yu’s wife, Yang Bao-yu (楊寶玉), Taichung Mayor Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍), Chiayi County Commissioner Helen Chang (張花冠), National Security Council adviser Tung Chen-yuan (童振源) and a number of lawmakers.
The delegation is scheduled to depart on Jan. 16 and return on Jan. 23. They plan to meet with US politicians, think tanks and Taiwanese expatriates, Huang said.
Taipei and New Taipei City government officials are aiming to have the first phase of the Wanhua-Jungho-Shulin Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) line completed and opened by 2027, following the arrival of the first train set yesterday. The 22km-long Light Green Line would connect four densely populated districts in Taipei and New Taipei City: Wanhua (萬華), Jhonghe (中和), Tucheng (土城) and Shulin (樹林). The first phase of the project would connect Wanhua and Jhonghe districts, with Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall and Chukuang (莒光) being the terminal stations. The two municipalities jointly hosted a ceremony for the first train to be used
The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) yesterday said it is fully aware of the situation following reports that the son of ousted Chinese politician Bo Xilai (薄熙來) has arrived in Taiwan and is to marry a Taiwanese. Local media reported that Bo Guagua (薄瓜瓜), son of the former member of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, is to marry the granddaughter of Luodong Poh-Ai Hospital founder Hsu Wen-cheng (許文政). The pair met when studying abroad and arranged to get married this year, with the wedding breakfast to be held at The One holiday resort in Hsinchu
Tropical Storm Usagi strengthened to a typhoon this morning and remains on track to brush past southeastern Taiwan between Friday and Sunday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The storm, which as of 8am was still 1,100km southeast of southern Taiwan, is currently expected to enter the Bashi Channel and then turn north, moving into waters southeast of Taiwan, the CWA said. Because of its rapid speed — 28kph as of 8am — a sea warning for the storm could be issued tonight, rather than tomorrow, as previously forecast, the CWA said. In terms of its impact, Usagi is to bring scattered or
An orange gas cloud that leaked from a waste management plant yesterday morning in Taoyuan’s Guanyin District (觀音) was likely caused by acidic waste, authorities said, adding that it posed no immediate harm. The leak occurred at a plant in the district’s Environmental Science and Technology Park at about 7am, the Taoyuan Fire Department said. Firefighters discovered a cloud of unidentified orange gas leaking from a waste tank when they arrived on the site, it said, adding that they put on Level A chemical protection before entering the building. After finding there was no continuous leak, the department worked with the city’s Department