Taichung mayor cancels U.S. trip amid concerns over typhoon

Taipei, July 24 (CNA) Taichung Mayor Lu Shiow-yen (盧秀燕), returned from the United States early Wednesday morning due to the approaching Typhoon Gaemi, cutting short a ten-day trip she only left for on Monday night.

Lu told reporters after arriving at Taoyuan International Airport at around 4:15 a.m. that because the path of the storm was moving south and Taichung was likely to be affected, she took the immediate decision to cancel her trip and fly back to Taiwan on the China Airlines CI21 flight from Seattle.

Lu said she had returned to Taichung in central Taiwan to help the city prepare for the storm's possible impact.

As of 12 p.m. on Wednesday, the eye of the typhoon was about 150 kilometers southeast of Yilan County in the east, and moving north-northwest at a speed of 13-18 kilometers per hour, according to the CWA.

It was packing maximum sustained winds of up to 184 kph, with gusts of up to 227 kph.

The CWA said the storm is shifting toward eastern Taiwan. It is likely to gain momentum and make landfall in Yilan and Hualien at midnight on Wednesday.

Taichung City is one of the 21 cities and counties that ordered the closure of offices and schools on Wednesday.

Lu added that the decision in Taichung was made during an emergency meeting she presided over while en route back to Taiwan.

She explained that closing businesses and schools was a preventative method to minimize the storm's impact.

Although Lu decided to return, the Taichung City Government delegation continued its 10-day trip to the United States, led by her deputy Huang Kuo-jung (黃國榮).

Before she departed for the U.S. on Tuesday, Lu said her trip aims to strengthen ties, particularly given that Taichung has relationships with 16 sister cities and two friendship cities in the U.S., the most it has with any country.

In addition to boosting ties and exchanges with those cities, the delegation was set to visit high-tech companies and connect with Taichung businesspeople working in the U.S.

It was also set to meet overseas compatriots in San Francisco and Greater Los Angeles.

Meanwhile, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) announced on Wednesday that the meeting between officials from Taiwan and China in outlying Kinmen County to discuss the Kinmen speedboat incident was postponed due to Typhoon Gaemi.

Both sides were originally scheduled to meet in Kinmen on Wednesday morning. The incident on Feb. 14 left two Chinese nationals dead.

However, due to the approach of Typhoon Gaemi, the cross-strait ferry services that are part of the "mini-three links" have been suspended, preventing the family members of the two deceased Chinese sailors and the delegation of Chinese officials from reaching Kinmen, the MAC said in a statement.

A new date for the meeting will be decided later by both sides, the statement read.