Vice President Lai to attend inauguration of President Santiago Peña Palacios of the Republic of Paraguay
With the inauguration of incoming President Santiago Peña Palacios of the Republic of Paraguay scheduled for August 15, the Presidential Office held a press conference on the afternoon of July 17 to announce that President Tsai Ing-wen has appointed Vice President Lai Ching-te as her special envoy to the Paraguayan presidential inauguration. Vice President Lai will lead a delegation to Paraguay, demonstrating the importance we place on our partnership with our close diplomatic ally.
The purpose of the trip was presented by Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs Alexander Tah-ray Yui (俞大㵢), who at the press conference stated that both incumbent President Mario Abdo Benítez and President-elect Peña of Paraguay had invited President Tsai to the August 15 presidential inauguration ceremony.
Vice Minister Yui said that as attendance at the presidential inauguration ceremony of a diplomatic ally would be a significant symbol of bilateral friendship, President Tsai appointed Vice President Lai to lead a delegation as her envoy in order to demonstrate the importance we place on our partnership with Paraguay. He added that both incumbent President Abdo and President-elect Peña had been informed of the plans for this visit.
Vice Minister Yui stated that the delegation is scheduled to arrive in Paraguay on the morning of August 14 and attend the presidential inauguration ceremony on August 15. He noted that the primary goal of the vice president's visit to Paraguay is to represent President Tsai at President Peña's inauguration and related activities. The vice president will also attend a celebration marking the inauguration and the 486th anniversary of the founding of Paraguay's capital city Asunción, and will meet with incumbent President Abdo as well as President-elect Peña to exchange views on bilateral and international issues of mutual concern.
Vice Minister Yui emphasized that promoting summit diplomacy and friendship between Taiwan's senior officials and those of our allies has always been a key part of our government's diplomatic work. Incumbent President Abdo led a delegation to Taiwan this February, highlighting the longstanding friendship between Taiwan and Paraguay. Incoming president Peña recently visited Taiwan as president-elect from July 11 to 15, during which time he met with President Tsai, Vice President Lai, Foreign Minister Joseph Wu (吳釗燮), Minister of Economic Affairs Wang Mei-hua (王美花), and Minister of Health and Welfare Hsueh Jui-yuan (薛瑞元), among other officials, and also visited Taiwanese companies and participated in discussions and talks with industry and business. Such interactions have helped build a solid foundation for increasing the cooperation between our countries in the future, said Vice Minister Yui.
Vice Minister Yui stated that this trip to Paraguay is especially meaningful as Vice President Lai, representing the people and government of Taiwan, will congratulate President-elect Peña, a firm supporter of Taiwan, on his inauguration. He added that the details of the itinerary are currently under planning, explaining that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs will continue to work with other government agencies as well as with the government of Paraguay to properly organize the upcoming trip.
Responding to media questions relating to transit stops to be made on the trip, Vice Minister Yui stated that this trip will be planned according to precedent set by previous trips to South and Central America, for which transit stops in the US were arranged. Any transit stops for Vice President Lai's upcoming trip will be planned with consideration of the principles of comfort, convenience, safety, and dignity.