Deputy US Assistant Secretary of State Scott Busby is on Thursday to deliver a speech to open a two-day workshop hosted by Taiwan and the US on defending democracy, the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) announced yesterday.
Busby, who is responsible for the Asia-Pacific region at the department’s Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor, is to join AIT Director Brent Christensen, Legislative Speaker Su Jia-chyuan (蘇嘉全) and Minister of Foreign Affairs Joseph Wu (吳釗燮), who have been invited to attend as special guests, an AIT media advisory said.
Minister Without Portfolio Audrey Tang (唐鳳) is to deliver the keynote address at the event, the AIT added.
The workshop is to be held under the Taiwan-US Global Cooperation and Training Framework (GCTF), said the AIT, which represents US interests in Taiwan in the absence of official diplomatic ties.
Established in June 2015, the GCTF program aims to support bilateral cooperation on international public health, humanitarian assistance and other global issues.
The workshop is to include participants from 12 countries spanning two continents, who are to share lessons and best practices to deepen international cooperation on the promotion of media literacy, the AIT said, adding that it would be the 13th workshop since the framework’s inception in 2015.
Busby has served in his post since December 2013, overseeing the bureau’s work on Africa, East Asia and the Pacific, multilateral and global affairs, including US engagement on human rights at the UN, disability rights, LGBTI rights, Internet freedom, business and human rights, and international labor affairs, the US Department of State Web site says.
Busby served as director for human rights on the White House National Security Council from 2009 to 2011, focusing on human rights and refugee issues, it says.
ANOTHER EMERGES: The CWA yesterday said this year’s fourth storm of the typhoon season had formed in the South China Sea, but was not expected to affect Taiwan Tropical Storm Gaemi has intensified slightly as it heads toward Taiwan, where it is expected to affect the country in the coming days, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. As of 8am yesterday, the 120km-radius storm was 800km southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost tip, moving at 9kph northwest, the agency said. A sea warning for Gaemi could be issued tonight at the earliest, it said, adding that the storm is projected to be closest to Taiwan on Wednesday or Thursday. Gaemi’s potential effect on Taiwan remains unclear, as that would depend on its direction, radius and intensity, forecasters said. Former Weather Forecast
As COVID-19 cases in Japan have been increasing for 10 consecutive weeks, people should get vaccinated before visiting the nation, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said. The centers reported 773 hospitalizations and 124 deaths related to COVID-19 in Taiwan last week. CDC Epidemic Intelligence Center Director Guo Hung-wei (郭宏偉) on Tuesday said the number of weekly COVID-19 cases reported in Japan has been increasing since mid-May and surpassed 55,000 cases from July 8 to July 14. The average number of COVID-19 patients at Japan’s healthcare facilities that week was also 1.39 times that of the week before and KP.3 is the dominant
The Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) working group for Taiwan-related policies is likely to be upgraded to a committee-level body, a report commissioned by the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said. As Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) is increasingly likely to upgrade the CCP’s Central Leading Group for Taiwan Affairs, Taiwanese authorities should prepare by researching Xi and the CCP, the report said. At the third plenary session of the 20th Central Committee of the CCP, which ended on Thursday last week, the party set a target of 2029 for the completion of some tasks, meaning that Xi is likely preparing to
US-CHINA TRADE DISPUTE: Despite Beijing’s offer of preferential treatment, the lure of China has dimmed as Taiwanese and international investors move out Japan and the US have become the favored destinations for Taiwanese graduates as China’s attraction has waned over the years, the Ministry of Labor said. According to the ministry’s latest income and employment advisory published this month, 3,215 Taiwanese university graduates from the class of 2020 went to Japan, surpassing for the first time the 2,881 graduates who went to China. A total of 2,300 graduates from the class of 2021 went to the US, compared with the 2,262 who went to China, the document showed. The trend continued for the class of 2023, of whom 1,460 went to Japan, 1,334 went to