Taiwan’s envoy to the APEC summit, Lin Hsin-i (林信義), on Friday invited US President Joe Biden to visit Taiwan.
During the APEC Leaders’ Informal Dialogue, Lin, who represented President William Lai (賴清德) at the summit, spoke with Biden and expressed gratitude to the outgoing US president for his contribution to improving bilateral ties between Taipei and Washington over the past four years, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said.
Lin and Biden exchanged views during the conversation, with Lin extending an invitation to Biden to visit Taiwan, it said.
Photo courtesy of Taiwan’s APEC delegation
Biden is to step down in January next year, when US president-elect Donald Trump is to return to the White House for a second term.
A photograph showed Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau looking on during the conversation between Lin and Biden.
The annual APEC Economic Leaders’ Meeting is the most important event for the 21-member regional trade bloc, with the heads of government from countries around the Pacific Rim attending to hold talks on the sidelines.
The organization is one of the few intergovernmental pacts in which Taiwan has full membership, but it still has to send special envoys in place of presidents to the annual leaders’ meeting due to pressure from China.
Taiwan joined APEC in 1991 under the name “Chinese Taipei.”
A Biden administration official downplayed the interaction, describing it as a “just a handshake” in the plenary room.
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment on whether Biden planned to visit.
Lin on Friday attended the APEC Leaders’ Informal Dialogue in the morning before a luncheon with representatives to the APEC Business Advisory Council followed by a dinner with leaders, the ministry said.
On Thursday, Lin held talks with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken ahead of the leaders’ meeting.
The two discussed ways to continue enhancing bilateral partnerships and ensuring regional peace and stability, while exchanging views on issues such as promoting the development of Taiwan’s diplomatic allies in the region, the ministry said.
Blinken also posted a photograph of the two shaking hands on social media, and wrote that their talks touched upon “our growing economic relationship and our enduring shared commitment to foster an open, dynamic and peaceful Indo-Pacific.”
Lin previously attended APEC meetings in Brunei in 2000, China in 2001 and South Korea in 2005, during the administration of thenpresident Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁).
Lin — a senior presidential adviser and chairman of Taiwania Capital Management Corp (台杉投資管理), a government-led investment vehicle — was economic affairs minister from 2000 to 2002 and vice premier from 2002 to 2004.
Additional reporting by Reuters
ENDEAVOR MANTA: The ship is programmed to automatically return to its designated home port and would self-destruct if seized by another party The Endeavor Manta, Taiwan’s first military-specification uncrewed surface vehicle (USV) tailor-made to operate in the Taiwan Strait in a bid to bolster the nation’s asymmetric combat capabilities made its first appearance at Kaohsiung’s Singda Harbor yesterday. Taking inspiration from Ukraine’s navy, which is using USVs to force Russia’s Black Sea fleet to take shelter within its own ports, CSBC Taiwan (台灣國際造船) established a research and development unit on USVs last year, CSBC chairman Huang Cheng-hung (黃正弘) said. With the exception of the satellite guidance system and the outboard motors — which were purchased from foreign companies that were not affiliated with Chinese-funded
PERMIT REVOKED: The influencer at a news conference said the National Immigration Agency was infringing on human rights and persecuting Chinese spouses Chinese influencer “Yaya in Taiwan” (亞亞在台灣) yesterday evening voluntarily left Taiwan, despite saying yesterday morning that she had “no intention” of leaving after her residence permit was revoked over her comments on Taiwan being “unified” with China by military force. The Ministry of the Interior yesterday had said that it could forcibly deport the influencer at midnight, but was considering taking a more flexible approach and beginning procedures this morning. The influencer, whose given name is Liu Zhenya (劉振亞), departed on a 8:45pm flight from Taipei International Airport (Songshan airport) to Fuzhou, China. Liu held a news conference at the airport at 7pm,
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
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 —
RSS