台湾次期総統、就任式前にエビ釣り　外国首脳らもてなす

【台北ＡＦＰ＝時事】台湾の頼清徳次期総統は１９日、翌日の就任式に出席するため訪台中の外国の首脳らをエビ釣りでもてなした。（写真は、台湾・台北市内の釣り堀でエビ釣りに興じるエスワティニの国王ムスワティ３世〈左〉、頼清徳氏〈中央〉、蕭美琴氏〈右〉）
　エビ釣りは台湾で人気の娯楽。週末には家族で釣り堀を訪れ、エビを釣ったりバーベキューをしたりする人も多い。
　頼氏は台北の釣り堀で、「われわれは民主主義と自由、人権という価値観を支持するあなた方のような国際的な友人たちと協力してきた」と語り、首脳らを迎えた。
　「エビが餌に食いついた後、飲み込むのを待ってからさおを上げるように」と、コツも伝授した。
　釣果で１位となったアフリカ南部エスワティニの国王ムスワティ３世と、２位のマーシャル諸島のヒルダ・ハイネ大統領には、賞品として釣りざおが贈られた。【翻訳編集ＡＦＰＢＢＮｅｗｓ】
〔ＡＦＰ＝時事〕（2024/05/20-16:35）

They might have bigger fish to fry, but Taiwan's next president and vice president spent the eve of their inauguration on Sunday dangling rods over a murky pond at a shrimp fishing farm.
President-elect Lai Ching-te and his deputy Hsiao Bi-khim hauled visiting foreign dignitaries, including presidents and a king, along for the fishing expedition at the Zhishan Shrimp Fishing Farm in the capital Taipei.
Shrimp fishing is a popular pastime in Taiwan, especially on weekends when families flock to farms to catch and barbecue crustaceans.
In front of cameras, Sunday's unlikely group of fishers appeared relaxed as they sat on chairs around an indoor pond while assistants dressed in black helpfully attached bait to the end of their fishing lines.
Lai, Hsiao and their guests -- including some leaders of the handful of countries that maintain diplomatic ties with Taiwan -- then patiently waited for the shrimp to bite.
Taiwan is not alone, Lai, wearing an open-neck striped shirt, told the visitors after they arrived at the fishing farm.
We have been working with international friends like you all who also uphold the values of democracy, freedom and human rights.
Lai, the son of a coal miner, offered some helpful tips to the fishers.
The shrimp will play around with the bait first, so wait for them to swallow before pulling up the line, Lai said.
It didn't take long for the first shrimp to be pulled from the water.
The attentive assistants were on standby to unhook the critters and drop them in green nets in front of each person.
As he prepares for the complex challenges of the presidency, including avoiding a conflict with China -- which claims Taiwan as part of its own territory -- Lai may have been eager to be seen succeeding in the relatively easier task of catching a shrimp.
After a slow start, he pulled in several large crustaceans to the cheers and clapping of observers.
But he was no match for the tracksuit-wearing king of the landlocked African country of Eswatini, who pulled in shrimp after shrimp.
King Mswati III was eventually declared the winner with the biggest catch, while Marshall Islands President Hilda Heine came in second.
Both received fishing rods as their prizes, raising them triumphantly.