US Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) Alex Azar is to lead a delegation to Taiwan — the highest-level visit by a US Cabinet official since the two sides cut formal relations in 1979.
The plan was announced yesterday morning by the US Department of Health and Human Services and confirmed by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA).
Beijing has expressed its concerns to Washington, Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Wang Wenbin (汪文斌) said later yesterday.
Photo: EPA-EFE
Taiwan and the US only issued statements saying that the visit would happen “in the coming days.”
MOFA said that due to security concerns, it would not disclose Azar’s schedule, except to say that he would visit President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文), Minister of Foreign Affairs Joseph Wu (吳釗燮), Minister of Health and Welfare Chen Shih-chung (陳時中), the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) — which is headed by Chen — and meet with Taiwanese health experts.
Azar’s trip marks the first visit to Taiwan by an HHS secretary, the first Cabinet member to visit in six years and the highest-level visit by a US Cabinet official since 1979, the department said in a news release.
The visit is part of a US policy to send high-level US officials to Taiwan to reaffirm bilateral ties under the US’ Taiwan Travel Act, which was signed into law by US President Donald Trump in 2018, it said.
The last publicly known visit by a US Cabinet official was by then-US Environmental Protection Agency administrator Gina McCarthy in 2014, the Central News Agency reported.
“I look forward to conveying President Trump’s support for Taiwan’s global health leadership and underscoring our shared belief that free and democratic societies are the best model for protecting and promoting health,” Azar was quoted as saying in the department’s statement.
“This trip represents an opportunity to strengthen our economic and public health cooperation with Taiwan, especially as the United States and other countries work to strengthen and diversify our sources for crucial medical products,” he said.
While in Taiwan, Azar would give a major speech to public health graduate students and alumni of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (USCDC) training program, the HHS said.
He would be joined by American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) Chairman James Moriarty, USCDC Chief Medical Officer Mitchell Wolfe, HHS chief of staff Brian Harrison, HHS Office of Global Affairs Director Garrett Grigsby and others, it said.
“Visitors are working closely with relevant Taiwan authorities to minimize health risks to everyone participating in this visit,” the AIT said.
They would obtain reports of negative test results for COVID-19 before they board a US chartered flight, and would receive tests again upon arrival in Taiwan, MOFA said, citing special regulations approved by the CECC.
While in Taiwan, they would have their temperatures and health conditions checked every day, wear masks, maintain proper social distancing and be transported by special vehicles to avoid close contact with members of the public, it said.
Their accommodation would be arranged in compliance with CECC regulations, it said.
Azar and Chen on April 27 spoke by telephone for 30 minutes, while Taiwan and the US have held several virtual forums related to disease response over the past few months.
The two sides might discuss further collaboration on urgent issues, such as allocation of potential COVID-19 vaccines, said Chan Chang-chuan (詹長權), a former dean of National Taiwan University’s College of Public Health.
With the US expected to launch the first COVID-19 vaccine this year, there might be discussions over the authorization of supplies, an issue that has national security implications, Chan said.
Asked if the disease prevention plans for the delegation would be adequate, Chan said that the White House conducts regular virus tests of high-ranking officials, so the risk of infection would be low.
Taiwan should require that its officials, as well as all visitors to the nation, be tested, instead of only having passive quarantine measures, he said.
AIR SUPPORT: The Ministry of National Defense thanked the US for the delivery, adding that it was an indicator of the White House’s commitment to the Taiwan Relations Act Deputy Minister of National Defense Po Horng-huei (柏鴻輝) and Representative to the US Alexander Yui on Friday attended a delivery ceremony for the first of Taiwan’s long-awaited 66 F-16C/D Block 70 jets at a Lockheed Martin Corp factory in Greenville, South Carolina. “We are so proud to be the global home of the F-16 and to support Taiwan’s air defense capabilities,” US Representative William Timmons wrote on X, alongside a photograph of Taiwanese and US officials at the event. The F-16C/D Block 70 jets Taiwan ordered have the same capabilities as aircraft that had been upgraded to F-16Vs. The batch of Lockheed Martin
GRIDLOCK: The National Fire Agency’s Special Search and Rescue team is on standby to travel to the countries to help out with the rescue effort A powerful earthquake rocked Myanmar and neighboring Thailand yesterday, killing at least three people in Bangkok and burying dozens when a high-rise building under construction collapsed. Footage shared on social media from Myanmar’s second-largest city showed widespread destruction, raising fears that many were trapped under the rubble or killed. The magnitude 7.7 earthquake, with an epicenter near Mandalay in Myanmar, struck at midday and was followed by a strong magnitude 6.4 aftershock. The extent of death, injury and destruction — especially in Myanmar, which is embroiled in a civil war and where information is tightly controlled at the best of times —
Taiwan was ranked the fourth-safest country in the world with a score of 82.9, trailing only Andorra, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar in Numbeo’s Safety Index by Country report. Taiwan’s score improved by 0.1 points compared with last year’s mid-year report, which had Taiwan fourth with a score of 82.8. However, both scores were lower than in last year’s first review, when Taiwan scored 83.3, and are a long way from when Taiwan was named the second-safest country in the world in 2021, scoring 84.8. Taiwan ranked higher than Singapore in ninth with a score of 77.4 and Japan in 10th with
China's military today said it began joint army, navy and rocket force exercises around Taiwan to "serve as a stern warning and powerful deterrent against Taiwanese independence," calling President William Lai (賴清德) a "parasite." The exercises come after Lai called Beijing a "foreign hostile force" last month. More than 10 Chinese military ships approached close to Taiwan's 24 nautical mile (44.4km) contiguous zone this morning and Taiwan sent its own warships to respond, two senior Taiwanese officials said. Taiwan has not yet detected any live fire by the Chinese military so far, one of the officials said. The drills took place after US Secretary