President William Lai (賴清德) yesterday continued to receive foreign dignitaries who traveled to Taiwan to participate in Monday’s inauguration ceremony, and congratulated Lai and expressed hopes to continue working with the nation.
In a meeting with former Lithuanian president Dalia Grybauskaite, Lai said global situations and geopolitical strategies are changing rapidly and he hopes that both countries would step up collaborative efforts as they face significant challenges.
Taiwan and Lithuania are small countries trying to survive with strong and unfriendly neighbors, Grybauskaite said, adding that there is much the two nations could learn from each other.
Photo: CNA
In a meeting with Marshall Islands President Hilda Heine, Lai said he is looking forward to working with Heine to create regional peace and prosperity.
Heine said Marshallese are firmly committed to their pledge to be Taiwan’s most stalwart ally and would continue to advocate for the nation on the global stage.
In a meeting with Somaliland House of Elders First Deputy Speaker Said Jama Ali, Lai mentioned “Project Africa” and said he hopes that his administration would continue working with Somaliland.
We hope to broaden the areas we collaborate and thrive together, he said.
Ali congratulated Lai and Vice President Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴) on their inauguration and said that Taiwan-Somaliland relations have continued to grow over the past few years, underscoring the friendship the two countries share.
Separately, the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office (TECRO) in Washington held a celebratory event to mark the inauguration at the Twin Oaks estate, which US House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Michael McCaul attended.
McCaul congratulated the Democratic Progressive Party on its historic third consecutive win and said Taiwan-US relations have never been closer than this year, which coincidentally was the 45th year of the signing of the Taiwan Relations Act.
McCaul said he had been reviewing the Chinese Communist Party’s military facilities near Taiwan before the event and said that China is trying to change the “status quo.”
McCaul quoted former US general Douglas MacArthur in defining Taiwan as “the unsinkable carrier” and said the general’s description was more prescient than he might have realized.
McCaul also announced that he would visit Taiwan again at the end of this month and address the situation of delayed US arms deliveries.
Representative to the US Alexander Yui (俞大?) said Lai had clearly stated Taiwan’s act of goodwill in terms of tourism and Chinese students, and called on Beijing to realize that it is speaking with a democratically elected president.
Beijing should not mistake cross-strait relations for cross-party relations and confine itself to dealing with one political party, Yui said.
Yui declined to comment on whether he would continue as a representative, saying: “If the president wants me on the job, I will stay on the job.”
‘TAIWAN-FRIENDLY’: The last time the Web site fact sheet removed the lines on the US not supporting Taiwanese independence was during the Biden administration in 2022 The US Department of State has removed a statement on its Web site that it does not support Taiwanese independence, among changes that the Taiwanese government praised yesterday as supporting Taiwan. The Taiwan-US relations fact sheet, produced by the department’s Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs, previously stated that the US opposes “any unilateral changes to the status quo from either side; we do not support Taiwan independence; and we expect cross-strait differences to be resolved by peaceful means.” In the updated version published on Thursday, the line stating that the US does not support Taiwanese independence had been removed. The updated
‘CORRECT IDENTIFICATION’: Beginning in May, Taiwanese married to Japanese can register their home country as Taiwan in their spouse’s family record, ‘Nikkei Asia’ said The government yesterday thanked Japan for revising rules that would allow Taiwanese nationals married to Japanese citizens to list their home country as “Taiwan” in the official family record database. At present, Taiwanese have to select “China.” Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said the new rule, set to be implemented in May, would now “correctly” identify Taiwanese in Japan and help protect their rights, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement. The statement was released after Nikkei Asia reported the new policy earlier yesterday. The name and nationality of a non-Japanese person marrying a Japanese national is added to the
AT RISK: The council reiterated that people should seriously consider the necessity of visiting China, after Beijing passed 22 guidelines to punish ‘die-hard’ separatists The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) has since Jan. 1 last year received 65 petitions regarding Taiwanese who were interrogated or detained in China, MAC Minister Chiu Chui-cheng (邱垂正) said yesterday. Fifty-two either went missing or had their personal freedoms restricted, with some put in criminal detention, while 13 were interrogated and temporarily detained, he said in a radio interview. On June 21 last year, China announced 22 guidelines to punish “die-hard Taiwanese independence separatists,” allowing Chinese courts to try people in absentia. The guidelines are uncivilized and inhumane, allowing Beijing to seize assets and issue the death penalty, with no regard for potential
‘UNITED FRONT’ FRONTS: Barring contact with Huaqiao and Jinan universities is needed to stop China targeting Taiwanese students, the education minister said Taiwan has blacklisted two Chinese universities from conducting academic exchange programs in the nation after reports that the institutes are arms of Beijing’s United Front Work Department, Minister of Education Cheng Ying-yao (鄭英耀) said in an exclusive interview with the Chinese-language Liberty Times (the Taipei Times’ sister paper) published yesterday. China’s Huaqiao University in Xiamen and Quanzhou, as well as Jinan University in Guangzhou, which have 600 and 1,500 Taiwanese on their rolls respectively, are under direct control of the Chinese government’s political warfare branch, Cheng said, citing reports by national security officials. A comprehensive ban on Taiwanese institutions collaborating or
RSS