US Senator Rick Scott arrived in Taiwan yesterday afternoon for a two-day visit.
Scott, who serves on the US Senate Committee on Armed Services, is the seventh US senator to visit Taiwan this year.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement that the Republican senator from Florida was greeted by Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Tien Chung-kwang (田中光).
Photo: REUTERS
Scott is scheduled to meet with President Tsai Ying-wen (蔡英文) and Premier Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) during his visit, the ministry said, adding that Minister of Foreign Affairs Joseph Wu (吳釗燮) was to host a banquet to welcome him.
Scott would also have a videoconference with Bureau of Foreign Trade Director-General Yang Jen-ni (楊珍妮), who is also deputy trade representative of the Office of Trade Negotiation, the ministry said.
The American Institute in Taiwan said that Scott’s visit was “part of a larger visit to the Indo-Pacific region.”
“The senator will meet with senior Taiwan leaders to discuss US-Taiwan relations, regional security, trade and investment, global supply chains, and other significant issues of mutual interest,” the institute said.
Scott, who served as Florida governor from 2011 to 2019, has proposed several Taiwan-friendly bills in the senate, including the draft Taiwan invasion prevention act and the draft deterring communist Chinese aggression against Taiwan through financial sanctions act, the ministry said.
The senator in May cosigned a letter penned by the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, calling on US President Joe Biden to include Taiwan in the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework, it said, adding that he has been supporter of a bilateral trade agreement between Taiwan and the US.
Scott visited the Taiwan Representative Office in Lithuania in April, becoming the first US senator to visit it, the ministry said.
In the same month, US senators Lindsey Graham, Bob Menendez, Richard Burr, Ben Sasse and Rob Portman, as well as US Representative Ronny Jackson, visited Taiwan and met with national security officials.
Another delegation led by US Senator Tammy Duckworth visited Taiwan in late May.
Yangmingshan National Park authorities yesterday urged visitors to respect public spaces and obey the law after a couple was caught on a camera livestream having sex at the park’s Qingtiangang (擎天崗) earlier in the day. The Shilin Police Precinct in Taipei said it has identified a suspect and his vehicle registration number, and would summon him for questioning. The case would be handled in accordance with public indecency charges, it added. The couple entered the park at about 11pm on Thursday and began fooling around by 1am yesterday, the police said, adding that the two were unaware of the park’s all-day live
Fast food chain McDonald's is to raise prices by up to NT$5 on some products at its restaurants across Taiwan, starting on Wednesday next week, the company announced today. The prices of all extra value meals and sharing boxes are to increase by NT$5, while breakfast combos and creamy corn soup would go up by NT$3, the company said in a statement. The price of the main items of those meals, if ordered individually, would remain the same. Meanwhile, the price of a medium-sized lemon iced tea and hot cappuccino would rise by NT$3, extra dipping sauces for chicken nuggets would go up
Yangmingshan National Park’s Qingtiangang (擎天崗) nature area has gone viral after a park livestream camera observed a couple in the throes of intimate congress, which was broadcast live on YouTube, drawing large late-night crowds and sparking a backlash over noise, bright lights and disruption to wildlife habitat. The area’s livestream footage appeared to show a couple engaging in sexual activity on a picnic table in the park on Friday last week, with the uncensored footage streamed publicly online. The footage quickly spread across social media, prompting a tide of visitors to travel to the site to “check in” and recreate the
Minister of Digital Affairs Lin Yi-ching (林宜敬) yesterday cited regulatory issues and national security concerns as an expert said that Taiwan is among the few Asian regions without Starlink. Lin made the remarks on Facebook after funP Innovation Group chief executive officer Nathan Chiu (邱繼弘) on Friday said Taiwan and four other countries in Asia — China, North Korea, Afghanistan and Syria — have no access to Starlink. Starlink has become available in 166 countries worldwide, including Ukraine, Malaysia, the Philippines and Vietnam, in the six years since it became commercial, he said. While China and North Korea block Starlink, Syria is not