The foreign ministry says that a videoconference featuring President Ma Ying-jeou is not related to opposition leader Tsai Ing-wen’s trip to the United States.
Tsai, who is the Democratic Progressive Party’s (DPP) chairwoman and presidential candidate, is currently in the United States on a six-city tour.
Since President Ma’s videoconference on Wednesday was sponsored by Stanford University, local media have been speculating about the timing of the event.
Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Anna Kao said on Thursday that the videoconference is an annual event. She said that the government had begun planning the event in January and that the details had been settled by mid-March.
Kao said that a lot of advanced preparation was needed, including choosing the topics, and coordinating the participants’ schedules and the materials needed for the event.
Kao also said that the president had held six such videoconferences since 2009.