A delegation of eight cross-party lawmakers led by Legislative Speaker Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜) is to attend the inauguration of US president-elect Donald Trump on Jan. 20, Taiwan’s top diplomat said yesterday.
Han’s delegation is to comprise three lawmakers from each of the two major parties — the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) and the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) — and one from the smaller Taiwan People’s Party (TPP), Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said.
The delegation is to depart for the US on Jan. 18 for Trump’s inauguration on Jan. 20, and would stay until Jan. 24, the legislature said.
Photo: Chen Yi-kuan, Taipei Times
While Lin did not name the other members of Han’s delegation, the legislature on Saturday last week released the names of five lawmakers who would accompany the speaker: Wang Ting-yu (王定宇) and Chen Kuang-ting (陳冠廷) of the DPP, Lee Yen-hsiu (李彥秀) and Ko Ju-chun (葛如鈞) of the KMT, and Chen Gau-tzu (陳昭姿) of the TPP.
Since then, it has been decided that another two legislators — one each from the DPP and KMT — would be included in the delegation, Lin said yesterday without naming them.
The list of delegates would be confirmed by the legislature’s USA Caucus, a group that promotes parliamentarian exchanges between Taiwan and the US, Lin said.
The cross-party delegation would extend congratulations to the new Trump administration on behalf of the Taiwan government, he added.
On Wednesday, President William Lai (賴清德) commented on the selection of the delegation members, saying that as part of his efforts to promote unity, he had invited Han, a senior member of the opposition KMT, to lead the official Taiwan delegation to Trump’s inauguration.
Lai said it was part of his job as president to resolve partisan differences and push for a unified nation in the interest of social stability and economic development.
In recent years, Taiwan’s delegations to US presidential inauguration ceremonies have been led by legislative speakers.
In 2009 and 2013, the delegations were led by then-speaker Wang Jin-pyng (王金平), while in 2017, then-speaker You Si-kun (游錫?) headed the Taiwan delegation to Trump’s first inauguration.
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Taiwan did not send a delegation from Taipei to US President Joe Biden’s inauguration in January 2021, but was represented instead by then-representative to the US Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴), who is now vice president.
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