A national security official yesterday declined to confirm media reports that President William Lai (賴清德) was planning a trip to Taiwan's South Pacific allies with a stopover in the US state of Hawaii as soon as late this month.
The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said that the planning of the president's overseas visits "proceeds according to the original pace" and that "there will be no surprise."
The official added any such visit would be "announced when the time is ripe."
Photo: Taipei Times
Local media has reported that Lai was planning to visit the South Pacific late this month or early next month, and would stop over in Hawaii.
Taiwan currently has 12 diplomatic allies, three of which are in the South Pacific, namely Palau, Tuvalu and the Marshall Islands.
Rumors about Lai embarking on his overseas visit after taking office in May have circulated intermittently for months, with the Presidential Office responding only that "any such arrangements will be reported to the public in due time."
Despite a lack of formal diplomatic relations, Washington has over the years allowed Taiwanese presidents to make stopovers on US soil during their trips to visit Taiwan's diplomatic allies.
How they were received in the US was often interpreted by the media as a sign of how Washington wanted to handle its relations with Taipei.
Former president Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) traveled to the South Pacific twice during her two four-year tenures, in 2017 and 2019.
Her 2017 trip included layovers in Honolulu, Hawaii and Guam.
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
MILITARY AID: Taiwan has received a first batch of US long-range tactical missiles ahead of schedule, with a second shipment expected to be delivered by 2026 The US’ early delivery of long-range tactical ballistic missiles to Taiwan last month carries political and strategic significance, a military source said yesterday. According to the Ministry of National Defense’s budget report, the batch of military hardware from the US, including 11 sets of M142 High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS) and 64 MGM-140 Army Tactical Missile Systems, had been scheduled to be delivered to Taiwan between the end of this year and the beginning of next year. However, the first batch arrived last month, earlier than scheduled, with the second batch —18 sets of HIMARS, 20 MGM-140 missiles and 864 M30
Representative to the US Alexander Yui delivered a letter from the government to US president-elect Donald Trump during a meeting with a former Trump administration official, CNN reported yesterday. Yui on Thursday met with former US national security adviser Robert O’Brien over a private lunch in Salt Lake City, Utah, with US Representative Chris Stewart, the Web site of the US cable news channel reported, citing three sources familiar with the matter. “During that lunch the letter was passed along, and then shared with Trump, two of the sources said,” CNN said. O’Brien declined to comment on the lunch, as did the Taipei
A woman who allegedly attacked a high-school student with a utility knife, injuring his face, on a Taipei metro train late on Friday has been transferred to prosecutors, police said yesterday. The incident occurred near MRT Xinpu Station at about 10:17pm on a Bannan Line train headed toward Dingpu, New Taipei City police said. Before police arrived at the station to arrest the suspect, a woman surnamed Wang (王) who is in her early 40s, she had already been subdued by four male passengers, one of whom was an off-duty Taipei police officer, police said. The student, 17, who sustained a cut about
RSS