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.
STAY AWAY: An official said people should avoid disturbing snakes, as most do not actively attack humans, but would react defensively if threatened Taitung County authorities yesterday urged the public to stay vigilant and avoid disturbing snakes in the wild, following five reported snakebite cases in the county so far this year. Taitung County Fire Department secretary Lin Chien-cheng (林建誠) said two of the cases were in Donghe Township (東河) and involved the Taiwan habus, one person was bit by a Chinese pit viper near the South Link Railway and the remaining two were caused by unidentified snakes. He advised residents near fields to be cautious of snakes hiding in shady indoor areas, especially when entering or leaving their homes at night. In case of a
A tropical disturbance off the southeastern coast of the Philippines might become the first typhoon of the western Pacific typhoon season, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The system lacks a visible center and how it would develop is only likely to become clear on Sunday or Monday, the CWA said, adding that it was not yet possible to forecast the potential typhoon's effect on Taiwan. The American Meteorological Society defines a tropical disturbance as a system made up of showers and thunderstorms that lasts for at least 24 hours and does not have closed wind circulation.
ENERGY RESILIENCE: Although Alaska is open for investments, Taiwan is sourcing its gas from the Middle East, and the sea routes carry risks, Ho Cheng-hui said US government officials’ high-profile reception of a Taiwanese representative at the Alaska Sustainable Energy Conference indicated the emergence of an Indo-Pacific energy resilience alliance, an academic said. Presidential Office Secretary-General Pan Men-an (潘孟安) attended the conference in Alaska on Thursday last week at the invitation of the US government. Pan visited oil and gas facilities with senior US officials, including US Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum, US Secretary of Energy Chris Wright, Alaska Governor Mike Dunleavy and US Senator Daniel Sullivan. Pan attending the conference on behalf of President William Lai (賴清德) shows a significant elevation in diplomatic representation,
The Taipei City Reserve Command yesterday initiated its first-ever 14-day recall of some of the city’s civilian service reservists, who are to undergo additional training on top of refresher courses. The command said that it rented sites in Neihu District (內湖), including the Taipei Tennis Center, for the duration of the camp to optimize tactical positioning and accommodate the size of the battalion of reservists. A battalion is made up of four companies of more than 200 reservists each, it said. Aside from shooting drills at a range in New Taipei City’s Linkou District (林口), the remainder of the training would be at
RSS