Lai to transit through New York, San Francisco on Paraguay trip

Lai to transit through New York, San Francisco on Paraguay trip

2023-08-02

The Presidential Office has unveiled the itinerary of Vice President Lai Ching-te’s upcoming trip to Paraguay. Next Saturday, Lai will embark on a seven-day journey that includes stops in New York and San Francisco. He’ll spend two days in Paraguay, attending its presidential inauguration, meeting its new president, and engaging with the local community of Taiwanese expats. According to the Presidential Office, Lai’s two goals for the visit will be to deepen the Taiwan-Paraguay friendship and expand bilateral cooperation.

Lin Yu-chan
Presidential Office spokesperson
Vice President Lai Ching-te has been specially appointed to celebrate the inauguration of a head of state of a diplomatic ally. He will go to Paraguay to convey our regard and congratulations to this important ally.

The Presidential Office formally announced that Lai will lead a delegation to Paraguay in mid-August.

Lin Yu-chan
Presidential Office spokesperson
President Tsai hopes that the delegation will achieve the two primary goals of deepening the Taiwan-Paraguay friendship and expanding bilateral cooperation.

Alexander Yui
Deputy foreign minister
The vice president will visit Paraguay in the capacity of a special envoy. His activities will include attending the presidential inauguration, meeting incumbent president Mario Abdo Benitez and President-elect Santiago Pena, attending a state banquet, and attending a celebration marking the presidential inauguration and the 486th anniversary of Asuncion’s founding. Throughout his trip, he will have natural interactions with Paraguay officials and foreign dignitaries attending the inauguration ceremony. Vice President Lai will also meet with Taiwanese expats in Paraguay and from neighboring nations.

Recent reports suggest that Lai originally wanted to transit through Washington, D.C. The rumor is believed to have been spread by Victor Chin, the KMT’s deputy representative in the U.S. The KMT has denied any involvement.

Alex Huang
Presidential Office deputy secretary-general
I think that Taiwan is a democratic country. Political parties should compete at home but unite before the world. That’s a basic principle. I very much hope that this information isn’t true. It would be very regrettable if it were true.

Lai’s delegation will depart on Aug. 12 and stop over in New York, before arriving in Paraguay on Aug. 14. Lai will attend the inauguration on Aug. 15, spend the next night in San Francisco, and return home on Aug. 18, wrapping up a seven-day state trip.

賴清德8/12啟程訪巴拉圭將過境美國紐約、舊金山

2023-08-02

副總統賴清德擔任總統特使，出訪巴拉圭並過境美國，總統府週三(2日)開記者會公佈行程，訪團將於下週六(12日)啟程、18日返抵台灣，全程7天6夜，預計也會過境紐約與舊金山，蔡總統也期許兩大核心目標，深化台巴邦誼、拓展雙方合作。

[[總統府發言人林聿禪]]
“特派賴清德副總統擔任，慶賀友邦元首就職的特使，前往巴拉圭，以表達對重要友邦的重視及祝賀。”

總統府正式公布賴清德率領的特使團，月中出訪巴拉圭的行程。

[[總統府發言人林聿禪]]
“蔡總統也期許訪團，可以達成深化台巴邦誼，拓展雙方合作的兩大核心目標。”

[[外交部次長俞大㵢]]
“副總統此行以特使身分訪問巴拉圭，主要行程包括出席總統就職典禮，會晤現任總統阿布鐸，以及新任總統貝尼亞，出席國宴，以及慶祝總統就職，及亞松森建城486年活動等官方行程。過程中並與出席就職典禮的巴國，及外國政要自然互動，賴副總統也將出席與我旅居巴拉圭，等鄰近國家僑胞的餐會。”

近期傳出賴清德"爭取"過境華府消息，經過多方求證後，懷疑散布這樣說法的，是國民黨駐美副代表秦日新，但國民黨否認。

[[總統府副秘書長黃重諺]]
“我想，台灣是民主國家，政黨對內競爭，對外團結一致，這是基本道理，我很希望這樣訊息不是真的，如果真的有，我們會非常遺憾。”

賴清德訪團8/12號啟程，先抵達紐約過境。8/14抵達巴拉圭，8/15參加就職典禮，8/16晚間過境舊金山，8/18返抵國門，全程共計7天6夜。

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Walk into the pitch-dark exhibition and you’ll be greeted by beautiful sculptural light works and calming music. These works were created by Feronia Liang, a high-school senior. She spent nearly a year creating these works out of plaster and light. Many of her works are inspired by the sea. This work, “Core,” is inspired by coral.

Feronia Liang
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The value from "Core" that I want to draw from is the value of being very stable and having a sense of stability in life and knowing where your values lie and knowing what you want to pursue in the future is very important value. I think creating this all-dark ambiance and sort of highlighting the aesthetic aspect of light, instead of this functional aspect, really brings out the beauty of light in our lives.

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Feronia Lin
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“Poise" as in posture and how having a good posture not only physically, but mentally to have your head up tall and face the world with confidence is a very important thing to have in life. A very interesting thing about this work in particular is that it has a red light shining from the top. That is from the studio that I work with that has a red light on the top.

This piece is titled "Seeker." It is a light sculpture inspired by sardines.

Feronia Liang
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“Seeker” is a little bit different because instead of being inspired by a single organism in the sea, it is inspired by the collective movement of sardines surging out from the sea. What this work wanted to convey is that like the sardines, they’re going in the direction. They are going in it together. I think as a general advice is that when you are curious about something when you want to discover something, sometimes it is good to do it but also remember that you have a lot of people around you that will support you in this process.

“Hadal Zone - Light is the Revelation” is an immersive art exhibition that showcases Liang’s sculptural light works. The works were inspired by the deepest zone in the ocean and a quote by James Turell, a pioneer of the 1960s Light and Space Movement. Through the exhibition, Liang hopes to create a peaceful atmosphere that encourages people to be introspective.

Feronia Liang
Artist
“Hadal Zone” is the term for the deepest part of the ocean. This part of the ocean is pure black. Personally, what this means for me is that the ocean and the dark is something I have always been afraid of. I think it is very important as an artist to explore what you are afraid of and step out of your comfort zone.

Liang is currently a senior in high school. She began to foster an interest in art at a young age, experimenting with different mediums. She says she wants to pursue an architectural career. She has interned at a few companies and won several awards.

Feronia Liang
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Voice of Mark Liu (July 20)
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Yang Tsung-pin
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Yen Po-lin
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Yen Po-lin
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Member of public
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