Taipei Mayor Chiang Wan-an to visit U.S. on 11-day trip

Taipei, Sept. 1 (CNA) Taipei Mayor Chiang Wan-an (蔣萬安) plans to visit New York, Boston and Philadelphia in the United States on an official 11-day trip starting Wednesday.

The trip, Chiang's first to the U.S. in his capacity as Taipei mayor, will focus on municipal exchanges, according to a source in the Taipei City Government.

Chiang, who has been mayor of Taiwan's capital city since December 2022, will first fly to New York.

He will stay for three days in "the Big Apple," where he plans to visit Times Square to learn about pedestrian-friendly policies and Citi Field baseball stadium to gather information that could help to improve operations at the Taipei Dome.

After traveling by bus to Boston on Sunday, Chiang will meet local city officials at the Massachusetts State House on Monday during the day and deliver a speech titled "Global Taipei: Bridging Tradition and Innovation" at John F. Kennedy Jr. Forum at Harvard University in the evening. This will be the first time a Taiwanese politician has delivered an address at the forum.

The following day, the mayor will visit the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) before taking a train to Philadelphia for additional municipal-related activities.

Chiang is scheduled to fly back to Taiwan on Sept. 14.

Mayors in Taiwan often visit other countries including the U.S. for exchanges aimed at strengthening city-to-city ties.