Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) arrived in New York City on Saturday night on what he said would be a “journey of learning.”
Ko is in the US on a nine-day trip that is to take him to four major cities on the country’s east coast — New York, Washington, Atlanta and Boston.
“The US trip will be a journey of learning,” he told reporters outside John F. Kennedy International Airport upon his arrival.
Photo: CNA
The trip has several goals, including city-to-city diplomacy in Atlanta, attracting foreign investment in Boston and learning in New York, Ko said, adding that he would “take it easy and work it out as he goes” as far as arrangements in Washington go.
He said he plans to attend the Taipei Bio Forum in Boston on Friday, cohosted by Taipei and the Boston Taiwanese Biotechnology Association, which aims to bridge the Taiwanese and Boston biotech development communities.
Following local media reports that Ko had felt a sense of unfriendliness from the central government, reporters asked if any part of his trip was arranged by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Ko rejected the reports, saying that aside from a few visits to government agencies in Washington arranged by the American Institute in Taiwan, most of the other visits were arranged by Taiwanese diplomats in the US.
When asked whether he would meet with US officials not listed on his public schedule, Ko said: “Just wait and see, everyone will know it in the end anyway.”
Asked how he would respond if US government officials were to ask him about a run for president, Ko said: “I would say the same I have been telling media in Taiwan: ‘Ask me in June.’”
“If I have registered as a candidate by then, I will run for president, and if I do not register, I will not run,” he said. “So do not worry, just take it easy.”
In New York, Ko was scheduled to meet with Columbia University professor of East Asian Studies Andrew Nathan and hold a casual seminar to exchange views with Taiwanese in the city.
He is next to visit Washington, where he is scheduled to give a speech at the Heritage Foundation think tank and pay a courtesy visit to the National Committee on American Foreign Policy.
On Thursday and Friday, Ko is to visit Atlanta and Boston.
In Atlanta, he is to attend a reception to mark the 40th anniversary of sisterhood ties between the city and Taipei.
In Boston, beside meetings with biotech entrepreneurs, Ko is to attend a banquet with Taiwanese expatriates.
The mayor is scheduled to fly back on Saturday.
Additional reporting by CNA
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