Governor of Tokyo Shintaro Ishihara was forced to cancel a sightseeing trip to eastern Taiwan due to the approaching Typhoon Nock-Ten, officials at the Ministry of Transportation and Commun-ications (MOTC) said yesterday.
Ishihara, who arrived in Taipei yesterday, was invited by the ministry's Tourism Bureau and the Taiwan Railway Administration (TRA) to take a top-end sightseeing train that travels through Ilan, Hualien and Taitung.
"Governor Ishihara intends to help promote tourism in Taiwan through the trip. His visit will greatly boost our tourism industry," the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) said in a press release announcing the official's visit last Friday.
"We welcome [Governor Ishi-hara's] visit," MOFA said.
However, as the rare autumn typhoon is expected to pound the island with heavy rains today, transportation officials said Ishihara's trip has been postponed to tomorrow or Wednesday.
MOTC officials might show Ishihara some tourist destinations in northern Taiwan instead. "We really have no clear idea about what is going to happen," said TRA spokesman Sung Chien-ping (宋建平).
Minister of Transportation and Communications Lin Ling-san (林陵三) met with Ishihara last night to discuss the changed itinerary, according to Sung.
Ishihara is scheduled to meet with President Chen Shui-bian (
According to Ishihara's original itinerary, he was to travel by train from Taipei to Hualien via Ilan today and from Hualien to Taitung tomorrow. He is scheduled to fly from Taitung back to Taipei Wednesday.
During his visit, Ishihara will visit the National Center for Traditional Arts in Ilan, the Taroko National Park and hot springs and aboriginal tribes in Taitung.
The official is also slated to meet up with county commissioners of Ilan, Hualien and Taitung during his train trip. He will leave Taiwan Thursday, MOFA said.
South Korean visit
Meanwhile, former South Korean president Kim Young-sam will be arriving at Taipei today for an eight-day visit. Kim will be meeting with Minister of Foreign Affairs Mark Chen at the Grand Hotel tonight.
One of Kim's purposes in visiting Taipei is to celebrate the resumption of air transportation between South Korea and Taiwan, which ceased after the two nations cut diplomatic ties in 1992.
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