TAIPEI (TVBS News) — On Wednesday (Feb. 7), Taipei Mayor Chiang Wan-an unveiled plans to visit the United States in the summer of 2024, mainly to the east coast cities like Boston, New York, and Philadelphia.
If time permits, other surrounding cities such as Washington may also be on the itinerary. The trip is expected to last between 10 days and two weeks.
The visit will focus on municipal exchanges. Information, industrial development, and firefighting bureaus will primarily accompany the mayor, targeting areas such as startups, smart cities, and urban disaster prevention.
In his first year of office, Chiang's tours were mostly around surrounding Asian cities like Singapore and South Korea, including participation in the Shanghai-Taipei City Forum.
His visit to the U.S., the first as mayor, inevitably leads to political interpretation, according to Huang Kwei-bo, a professor in the Diplomacy Department of the National Chengchi University.
Huang believes that the timing of Chiang's visit to the U.S. falls just after the inauguration of President-elect Lai Ching-te, which he will unavoidably encounter the U.S. focus on the direction of cross-strait relations under Lai's administration.