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Tsai considers Panama trip and Southward Policy office

Tsai considers Panama trip and Southward Policy office

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – President-elect Tsai Ing-wen was considering accepting an invitation to attend the June 26 ceremony for the extension of the Panama Canal, while she said she would also set up a special office to promote her Southward Policy.
Foreign policy was one of the topics which came up at a “consensus camp” for the members of her administration organized in Taipei City over the weekend. Tsai and her whole team will take office on May 20.
Panama, one of Taiwan’s limited list of 22 diplomatic allies, has reportedly invited both Tsai and China’s President Xi Jinping to attend the official festivities for the canal. Taiwan’s Evergreen Group, one of the largest container shipping lines in the world, has close ties to the Latin American country.
A spokesman for Tsai’s Democratic Progressive Party said Saturday that in principle, she would certainly consider accepting Panama’s invitation and traveling to attend the June 26 event.
At Saturday’s event, Tsai herself emphasized the importance of her “New Southward Policy,” which implied more government efforts to strengthen relations with Southeast Asia.
Even though no decision had yet been reached as to whether to set up the new body to promote the policy at the Presidential Office or at the Executive Yuan, coordination was of vital importance, Tsai was quoted as saying. Aspects like economic policy, national security, education and others needed to be taken into account and to be coordinated for the Southward Policy to be effective, she reportedly said.
Tsai was also quoted as saying the government should pay special attention to Southeast Asian students in Taiwan, because they could play the role of a bridge between the island and the region.