President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) yesterday praised the landmark visit to the US capital by his wife Wu Shu-chen (吳淑珍) saying that the first lady's achievements in successfully expanding Taiwan's international visibility had set an example for all Taiwanese women and disabled people in the fight for the country's diplomatic status.
"Her performance proves that women are by no means frail," said Chen.
"What she has done is much better than I, the head of state, have ever done," he said.
Chen stressed that Wu and Vice President Annette Lu (呂秀蓮), who paid a surprise visit to Indonesia last month, both exercised Taiwan's "soft power" which could be used to counter tough pressure from China.
"Our friends in the US and the international community can learn of Taiwan's development from authoritarianism to democracy via the first lady's personal explanation," the president said.
"Though I was really worried about my wife's physical condition before she left, worries which sadly proved well-founded during the trip, I want to thank those compatriots who supported her and who ... helped the first lady accomplished her mission successfully," Chen said.
After the 11-day diplomatic trip to three major US cities, the wheelchair-bound Wu returned to Taiwan at midnight Sunday. She was originally scheduled to hold a press conference yesterday to talk about her achievements on the trip. On the advice of doctors, however, Wu decided to stay home and rest.
Chen, accompanied by Lu, Minister of Foreign Affairs Eugene Chien (簡又新) and other high-ranking officials, praised the first lady warmly. Chen took it upon himself to explain the diplomatic significance of her visit.
``She cannot stand on her own feet, but she used a wheelchair to push Taiwan to the United States, to Washington,'' Chen said of his wife, who has been confined to a wheelchair for 17 years after a politically motivated traffic "accident" during the martial law era.
Given Wu's bold example there was no reason why other Taiwanese should be either pessimistic or lacking in energy in pursuing Taiwan's diplomatic goals, Chen said.
Lu said that Wu's performance again showed how Taiwanese women helped their husbands, especially those who were political dissidents, to work for political reform.
"Despite Beijing's suppression and her physical pain, Wu, on behalf of her husband, created a landmark for Taiwan's diplomatic history by deploying her iron-will to complete the trip," Lu said.
"I hope that the first lady takes good care of herself," Lu added, "because she may choose to run for the presidency or the vice presidency" in future.
Lu said, however, that "wife diplomacy" should not be developed as a normal foreign policy method; the goal was after all that the president himself should be able to go anywhere in the world as he pleases, not as China allows.
The visit was the first to Washington by the wife of a Taiwanese leader.
"With the first lady's US trip, Taiwan people can now walk with their heads up high," said Chen Shih-meng (陳師孟), secretary general to the president, "and we can say that this is a most dignified moment for all Taiwanese, while Taiwan's democratic achievements will be acknowledged by more countries."
A highlight of the visit was a unanimous vote by the US House of Representatives to welcome Wu, and she was warmly greeted by at least 20 congressmen, including bipartisan congressional leaders, at a Capitol Hill reception.
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