A parliamentary delegation from Japan’s Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) is scheduled to arrive in Taiwan tomorrow and meet with President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) and other top officials during a four-day visit, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said on Friday.
The delegation, led by Japanese lawmaker Hiroshige Seko, secretary-general of the LDP in the House of Councillors in the Japanese Diet, is to meet with Tsai, Vice President William Lai (賴清德), Premier Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) and Legislative Speaker You Si-kun (游錫?) to discuss bilateral relations, the ministry said in a statement.
In addition to Seko, the delegation consists of 11 lawmakers who were part of the LDP faction led by former Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe, who was assassinated in early July while campaigning in Nara, Japan, the statement said.
The members would pay their respects to former president Lee Teng-hui (李登輝) at a military cemetery in New Taipei City and visit a memorial to Abe in Kaohsiung before departing on Thursday next week, the ministry said.
Both of the former national leaders are regarded by some to have made significant contributions to promoting Taiwan-Japan ties.
The visit would be a testament to the close friendship between Taiwan and Japan, it said.
Taiwan and Japan enjoy “close economic and people-to- people ties,” the statement said, adding that Taipei looks forward to further bilateral cooperation that stems from the visit.
Taipei and New Taipei City government officials are aiming to have the first phase of the Wanhua-Jungho-Shulin Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) line completed and opened by 2027, following the arrival of the first train set yesterday. The 22km-long Light Green Line would connect four densely populated districts in Taipei and New Taipei City: Wanhua (萬華), Jhonghe (中和), Tucheng (土城) and Shulin (樹林). The first phase of the project would connect Wanhua and Jhonghe districts, with Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall and Chukuang (莒光) being the terminal stations. The two municipalities jointly hosted a ceremony for the first train to be used
The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) yesterday said it is fully aware of the situation following reports that the son of ousted Chinese politician Bo Xilai (薄熙來) has arrived in Taiwan and is to marry a Taiwanese. Local media reported that Bo Guagua (薄瓜瓜), son of the former member of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, is to marry the granddaughter of Luodong Poh-Ai Hospital founder Hsu Wen-cheng (許文政). The pair met when studying abroad and arranged to get married this year, with the wedding breakfast to be held at The One holiday resort in Hsinchu
Tropical Storm Usagi strengthened to a typhoon this morning and remains on track to brush past southeastern Taiwan between Friday and Sunday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The storm, which as of 8am was still 1,100km southeast of southern Taiwan, is currently expected to enter the Bashi Channel and then turn north, moving into waters southeast of Taiwan, the CWA said. Because of its rapid speed — 28kph as of 8am — a sea warning for the storm could be issued tonight, rather than tomorrow, as previously forecast, the CWA said. In terms of its impact, Usagi is to bring scattered or
An orange gas cloud that leaked from a waste management plant yesterday morning in Taoyuan’s Guanyin District (觀音) was likely caused by acidic waste, authorities said, adding that it posed no immediate harm. The leak occurred at a plant in the district’s Environmental Science and Technology Park at about 7am, the Taoyuan Fire Department said. Firefighters discovered a cloud of unidentified orange gas leaking from a waste tank when they arrived on the site, it said, adding that they put on Level A chemical protection before entering the building. After finding there was no continuous leak, the department worked with the city’s Department