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President Ma Ying-jeou will visit Panama and El Salvador at the end of this month. That’s the word from Deputy Foreign Minister Simon Ko on Thursday.
Ko said Ma will attend the inauguration of President-elect Juan Carlos Varela in Panama. Ma and his delegation will then visit El Salvador by invitation of Salvadoran President Salvador Sanchez Ceren. Both countries have official ties with Taiwan.
The 7-day trip will be Ma’s 10th overseas trip since he took office in 2008. Ma is scheduled to depart June 29 and will transit in the United States on his way to Central America.
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Also this past week, the economics ministry says Vietnam has responded to certain demands from Taiwan to compensate Taiwanese companies affected in anti-China riots there last month.
A Chinese oil-drilling venture in a disputed area of the South China Sea sparked anti-China demonstrations in Vietnam. Protestors attacked factories considered “Chinese”, including those with Chinese-language signboards. Taiwanese businesses in southern Vietnam ended up suffering the worst damage. A total of 425 Taiwanese companies were damaged in the riots. Twenty-five were burned down. Losses are estimated to be between US$150 million and US$500 million.
In a press conference on Friday, Taiwan’s economics ministry said that in the first round of negotiations, Vietnam responded to 10 out of 24 demands from Taiwan. Vietnam agreed, among other measures, to help Taiwanese companies in processing documents and to waive import duties on machinery.
The economics ministry called on Vietnam to take a proactive approach to compensation issues.
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And finally this past week, a well-known surgeon and newcomer to politics, Ko Wen-je, has emerged as the leading opposition candidate in the Taipei mayoral elections slated for November.
Ko beat Legislator Yao Wen-chih in a pan-opposition telephone poll overnight. The result was announced Friday and the Democratic Progressive Party went on to endorse Ko’s candidacy even though he is not a party member.
Ko will run as an independent against Sean Lien of the ruling Kuomintang. The incumbent mayor Hau Lung-bin will step down after completing two four-year terms. Ko is likely to face an uphill battle in a city considered a Kuomintang stronghold.