Lai arrives in Marshall Islands, hopes for continued cooperation

Majuro, Marshall Islands, Dec. 3 (CNA) President Lai Ching-te (賴清德) said Tuesday shortly after touching down in the Marshall Islands that Taiwan looked forward to continuing to work with the Pacific nation to improve the lives of the people in both countries.

Lai arrived in Majuro, the capital of the Marshall Islands, at around noon (local time) after wrapping up a series of engagements over the past two days in Hawaii, and he was welcomed by Marshallese President Hilda Heine and members of her government at the airport.

Describing the two countries as "families" and "like-minded partners" who have long supported one another, Lai said in his brief remarks that he looked forward to continued bilateral cooperation to "build better lives" for the people of both the Marshall Islands and Taiwan.

Heine, meanwhile, said relations between the two sides had been time-tested since 1998, when formal diplomatic relations were established, and that she was confident such ties would continue to deepen.

According to information provided by the Presidential Office, Lai will have a packed schedule during his roughly 20 hours in the Pacific ally.

Lai will meet separately with Heine and Brenson Wase, speaker of the Marshallese Legislature, where he is also scheduled to deliver an address.

In addition, he will visit a couple of infrastructure projects funded by Taiwan's government, including a government building and a remote medical center.

Lai will wrap up his itinerary Tuesday by attending a dinner hosted by Heine before traveling to Tuvalu early Wednesday morning.

Lai is on his first overseas trip to Taiwan's three Pacific allies, the Marshall Islands, Tuvalu and Palau, as president.

He is being accompanied on the trip, which began on Nov. 30 (Taipei time), with eight Presidential Office and Cabinet officials, including Foreign Minister Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) and Ocean Affairs Council head Kuan Bi-ling (管碧玲).

Lai first arrived in Honolulu, Hawaii, on the morning of Nov. 30 (local time) for a stopover in the United States.

While there, he met with Ingrid Larson, managing director of the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) and Hawaii Governor Josh Green, and had a phone call with former House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who visited Taiwan in 2022 when she was still speaker.

After visiting Tuvalu on Wednesday, Lai will fly to Guam, where he will stay overnight and then travel to Palau on Thursday afternoon. He will return home on Friday (Taiwan time).