TT: Some people had raised concerns about a possible national crisis in Taiwan during Chen's absence. Did the president have a national crisis management plan ready while he was abroad?
Su: It is the duty of every national leader to go abroad from time to time to enhance the international image of their respective country and meet with other world leaders. Fortunately, we live in an age when people can keep in constant contact from opposite sides of the planet.
Thanks to the advanced state of telecommunications, especially the telecommunications expertise of the people of Taiwan, we were able to update the president from day to day on everything that happened at home.
If an emergency should occur while the president is abroad, we would be able to immediately inform him and he would be able to deal with the situation on a real-time basis.
During this trip the president closely monitored the situation at home by keeping in daily contact with Taiwan. The president was at all times on top of domestic political and economic developments, and he kept a close eye on the cross-strait situation.
RSS