January 19, 2025
No. 023
Serving as President Lai Ching-te’s special envoy, Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung led a delegation to the Republic of Palau—one of Taiwan’s diplomatic allies in the Pacific—from January 15 to 18 to congratulate President Surangel Whipps, Jr. and Vice President Raynold Oilouch on their inauguration. Special Envoy Lin conducted the trip and flew back to Taiwan on January 18.
In addition to attending official activities, Special Envoy Lin engaged with visiting dignitaries from other countries. He also led a delegation of industry leaders from Taiwan on a fact-finding tour to explore business opportunities in Palau. The visit received high praise from President Whipps and various other key political figures. In a concrete example of Taiwan’s implementation of its integrated diplomacy policy and the Diplomatic Allies Prosperity Project, the trip produced substantive results.
On January 16, Special Envoy Lin attended the presidential and vice presidential inauguration ceremony, made official visits, signed a letter of intent on sports and baseball exchanges, launched a smart healthcare project at Belau National Hospital, and took part in President Whipps’s inauguration dinner. The following day, at President Whipps’s invitation, the Taiwan delegation joined special envoys and representatives from other countries on a tour of local tourism resources. In a strong demonstration of the importance that he attaches to Taiwan, President Whipps personally briefed the delegation on Palau’s tourism investment environment before the tour. During the event, President Whipps warmly interacted with Special Envoy Lin and other members of the Taiwan delegation.
To reciprocate the generous hospitality of the president and government of Palau, Special Envoy Lin hosted a dinner on January 17 that was attended by President Whipps, House of Delegates Speaker Gibson Kanai, Minister of State Gustav Aitaro, and many other Palauan political and traditional leaders. Speaking at the banquet, Special Envoy Lin reaffirmed that Taiwan would strive to assist Palau in its national development and collaborate closely on future economic plans.
In his remarks, President Whipps thanked Special Envoy Lin for leading an industry fact-finding mission to Palau and fully upholding Taiwan’s commitment to supporting Palau’s economic development. He added that he looked forward to promoting diverse cooperation between the two countries on the economy, trade, and investment. Reiterating his appreciation for Taiwan’s assistance in Palau’s national development since the establishment of diplomatic ties, President Whipps said that he would continue to lead the new government in working closely with Taiwan toward shared prosperity.
During the dinner, Taiwan’s Mingdao High School handed over a donation of distance learning equipment to Palau High School. The initiative aimed to promote educational cooperation and underscored Taiwan’s active efforts to advance various forms of bilateral cooperation through civil society resources and public-private partnerships.
On January 18, Special Envoy Lin led the industry delegation on a fact-finding tour of Palau’s tourism sector before flying back to Taiwan. Minister of State Aitaro saw the group off at the airport on behalf of President Whipps. He expressed sincere thanks to Taiwan for sending a delegation led by the special envoy and involving the private sector to invest in Palau’s economic development.
Special Envoy Lin’s visit continued the theme of “Smart and Sustainable Development for a Prosperous Austronesian Region” that defined President Lai’s Pacific tour last December. The aim of the trip was to use integrated diplomacy to highlight the democratic values that Taiwan shares with other like-minded countries; leverage Taiwan’s strengths in industry, technology, and human resources to develop Palauan industry in concrete ways; and further consolidate diplomatic relations. Taiwan will build on the robust partnership forged with Palau over 26 years of official ties to further advance the Diplomatic Allies Prosperity Project and work with Palau and other like-minded countries to jointly realize the vision of regional peace, stability, and prosperity. (E)