Politics

US State Department official to visit Taiwan

Jose W. Fernandez, U.S. assistant of state for economic and business affairs, will meet with ROC President Ma Ying-jeou and other high-ranking officials Aug. 5-7. (Courtesy of U.S. Department of State)

• Publication Date：08/01/2012
• Source： Taiwan Today

Jose W. Fernandez, U.S. assistant secretary of state for economic and business affairs, will visit Taiwan Aug. 5-7, the ROC Ministry of Foreign Affairs said Aug. 1.

During his time in Taiwan, the State Department official will pay courtesy calls on ROC President Ma Ying-jeou and other government officials such as Foreign Minister Timothy Chin-tien Yang and Francis Kuo-hsin Liang, deputy minister of economic affairs, according to the MOFA.

The ministry said it welcomes Fernandez’s visit, which clearly shows that the U.S. fully respects Taiwan’s market and potential for economic development.

Nominated by U.S. President Barack Obama in August 2009, Fernandez was sworn in as assistant secretary in December the same year.

The MOFA noted that the U.S. has dispatched several senior administrative officials to Taiwan over the past year, including Suresh Kumar, assistant secretary of commerce for trade promotion, Rajiv Shah, administrator of the U.S. Agency for International Development, Daniel Poneman, deputy secretary of energy, and Dawn McCall, coordinator of the State Department’s Bureau of International Information Programs.

“These visits fully demonstrate that ROC-U.S. relations are close and friendly,” the ministry said. (HSJ-THN)