Details have not yet been finalized regarding a planned visit by US Environmental Protection Agency Administrator (EPA) Andrew Wheeler next month, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said yesterday.
Premier Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) yesterday told reporters Wheeler would discuss international and environmental issues.
“Taiwan-US exchanges keep warming up... We are glad to see it and we believe it will make bilateral relations better,” Su said.
Photo: AP
Wheeler was invited to Taiwan in December last year by Minister of Foreign Affairs Joseph Wu (吳釗燮) to discuss international cooperation on environmental issues, ministry spokeswoman Joanne Ou (歐江安) said.
Ou made the remarks after a report on Thursday by the New York Times said that Wheeler is planning a three-day visit to Taiwan to start on Dec. 5, and he would also go to Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic, Ecuador and Panama in January.
The New York Times cited James Hewitt, a spokesman for Wheeler, as saying that the agency is still working through the logistics and that Wheeler was invited to Taiwan “to collaborate on issues including the Save Our Seas initiative and marine litter, air quality and children’s health.”
It also quoted two people familiar with the matter as saying that the meetings with top officials in Taiwan were “hurriedly cobbled together,” and that there were no stated policy goals for the Latin America trip.
Although representative to the US Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴) on Thursday confirmed Wheeler’s visit, the ministry yesterday said in a statement that it was still finalizing details with the US.
Former US EPA administrator Gina McCarthy visited Taiwan in 2014, and this year US Undersecretary of State for Economic Growth, Energy and the Environment Keith Krach and US Secretary of Health and Human Services Alex Azar visited in September and August respectively, demonstrating the close ties between Taiwan and the US, while complying with the Taiwan Travel Act, Ou said.
The act, passed in 2018 with bipartisan support in the US Congress, allows for high-level visits by Taiwanese and US officials, which Taiwan welcomes, she said.
McCarthy’s visit, under the administration of former US president Barack Obama, fostered bilateral cooperation in promoting environmental education, and improving electronic waste management and air pollution controls under the International Environmental Partnership framework, Ou said.
The nations look forward to boosting cooperation in tackling marine waste and improving regional air quality, she added.
Presidential Office spokesman Xavier Chang (張惇涵) yesterday also welcomed high-ranking visits from the US.
Regarding the quarantine plan for Wheeler’s delegation, Central Epidemic Command Center spokesman Chuang Jen-hsiang (莊人祥) said the matter should first be explained by the foreign ministry and that the center would assist with disease prevention plans.
China yesterday said it “resolutely opposes any form of official exchanges between the US and Taiwan.”
“China will make a necessary and legitimate reaction,” Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Zhao Lijian (趙立堅) told reporters.
Additional reporting by AFP
MAKING A MOVE: Starting on Monday, short-term business travelers can apply for shorter quarantine periods, while transits of up to eight hours would be allowed The Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) yesterday announced an easing of restrictions that would from Monday next week allow foreigners to visit or make a transit flight in Taiwan. A policy allowing short-term business travelers from countries with low or medium risks of COVID-19 infections to apply for shorter quarantine periods is also to resume that day. Minister of Health and Welfare Chen Shih-chung (陳時中), who heads the center, said that while the autumn-winter COVID-19 prevention program is to be extended after the end of this month, special conditions for foreign nationals to enter Taiwan would be restored from Monday. Foreign nationals
‘UNFRIENDLY’: COA Minister Chen Chi-chung said that Beijing probably imposed the sanction because the pineapple production season is about to start in Taiwan More than 99 percent of pineapples sold to China passed inspections, the government said yesterday, after China earlier in the day abruptly suspended imports of pineapples from the nation, which Taipei called an “unfriendly” move. From Monday, China is to stop importing pineapples from Taiwan, the Chinese General Administration of Customs said. The regulation is a normal measure for ensuring biosafety, China’s Taiwan Affairs Office spokesman Ma Xiaoguang (馬曉光) said in a news release later yesterday. Since last year, Chinese customs officials have repeatedly seized pineapples imported from Taiwan that carried “perilous organisms,” Ma said. Were the organisms to spread in China, they would
CONTINUED VIGILANCE: People would still be required to wear masks at eight types of public spaces and border controls would continue, Chen Shih-chung told reporters The government’s autumn-winter COVID-19 prevention program is to continue beyond Sunday, but eating and drinking on high-speed trains would be allowed from Monday, the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) announced yesterday. Minister of Health and Welfare Chen Shih-chung (陳時中), who heads the center, said that while there were no new confirmed cases in Taiwan yesterday, the global COVID-19 situation remains serious, so the autumn-winter COVID-19 prevention program would be extended beyond its Sunday deadline. “Border control measures, including requiring a negative polymerase chain reaction test result obtained within three days of boarding a plane to Taiwan, and undergoing quarantine in a
MORE RISK? Three Taiwanese family members were found to have the Brazilian variant, which CDC Deputy Director-General Philip Lo said might be more infectious From Wednesday, all travelers who have been in Brazil in the past 14 days are required to be quarantined at a centralized facility after arriving in Taiwan and undergo a COVID-19 test upon ending quarantine, the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) announced yesterday. Minister of Health and Welfare Chen Shih-chung (陳時中), who heads the center, said that starting from 12am on Wednesday, all travelers arriving from Brazil, including those who have transited through the country in the past 14 days, would have to stay at a centralized quarantine facility. “They will be tested for COVID-19 upon completing the 14-day quarantine, and they