Former president Lee Teng-hui (李登輝) on Monday made a stopover in Philadelphia en route from New York to Washington, visiting the Liberty Bell, the symbol of American independence, in a trip that the State Department denied President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) when he stopped in the US last month.
Lee's stopover was arranged by the Formosan Association for Public Affairs (FAPA), the group who have organized the rest of Lee's tour.
In Washington, Lee and his party were met at the historic Willard Hotel in the center of the city by an animated, banner-waving group of more than 100 Taiwanese-American supporters and members of the Greater Washington chapter of the Taiwanese Association of America.
The former president shook hands and exchanged greetings with the demonstrating well-wishers as they sang the Taiwanese song Formosa My Dream and shouted "Taiwan, go, go, go."
Lee made no comment to the press as he pushed through the scrum of journalists and photographers in the lobby.
While the welcome was enthusiastic, its size was purposely limited by the Taiwanese Association of America to avoid fomenting a feared counter-demonstration by pan-blue-camp forces in the Washington area, association president Huang Mei-yueh (黃美月) told the Taipei Times.
"We didn't tell all Taiwanese-Americans because we did not want to spread the news too much," she said.
Pan-blue-camp supporters were planning a protest for last night at the Taiwan-owned mansion Twin Oaks, where the Taipei Economic and Cultural Relations Office (TECRO) was to host a dinner for Lee.
Later in the day, Lee took a symbolic tour of the city by visiting the National Archives, the home of the originals of the US Declaration of Independence and the US Constitution, and then the Jefferson Memorial, the monument to US president Thomas Jefferson, the man who wrote the Declaration of Independence.
During his four days in Washington, Lee will attend a reception hosted by US congressmen in the Capitol today, hold a press conference at the National Press Club tomorrow, and hold closed-door meetings with academics and other members of the Taiwan-watching fraternity at the conservative Heritage Foundation and liberal Brookings Institution think tanks.
He will also attend a gala dinner hosted by the Taiwanese-American community.
While it is not clear if Lee will meet with members of the Bush administration, observers feel that some officials may attend one of the two think tank meetings, giving them a chance to discuss Taiwan's affairs with Lee. Officials may also attend the congressional reception.
While the visit was being billed by Lee's office as an opportunity to see "old friends," he is expected to spend much time pressing for US support for Taiwan.
A FAPA press release said that Lee would emphasize how recent and fragile Taiwan's democracy still is, and urge the US to stand firmly by its democratic ally in the region and help strengthen democracy and freedom by supporting democratic forces.
"He will appeal to the United States and the international community not to ignore the attempts of the Chinese authoritarian regime to absorb democratic Taiwan and help preserve democracy in Taiwan," the FAPA press release said.
In addition, Lee would urge the US to help Taiwan "normalize its relations with countries around the world and become a full and equal member of the international community."
FALSE DOCUMENTS? Actor William Liao said he was ‘voluntarily cooperating’ with police after a suspect was accused of helping to produce false medical certificates Police yesterday questioned at least six entertainers amid allegations of evasion of compulsory military service, with Lee Chuan (李銓), a member of boy band Choc7 (超克7), and actor Daniel Chen (陳大天) among those summoned. The New Taipei City District Prosecutors’ Office in January launched an investigation into a group that was allegedly helping men dodge compulsory military service using falsified medical documents. Actor Darren Wang (王大陸) has been accused of being one of the group’s clients. As the investigation expanded, investigators at New Taipei City’s Yonghe Precinct said that other entertainers commissioned the group to obtain false documents. The main suspect, a man surnamed
DEMOGRAPHICS: Robotics is the most promising answer to looming labor woes, the long-term care system and national contingency response, an official said Taiwan is to launch a five-year plan to boost the robotics industry in a bid to address labor shortages stemming from a declining and aging population, the Executive Yuan said yesterday. The government approved the initiative, dubbed the Smart Robotics Industry Promotion Plan, via executive order, senior officials told a post-Cabinet meeting news conference in Taipei. Taiwan’s population decline would strain the economy and the nation’s ability to care for vulnerable and elderly people, said Peter Hong (洪樂文), who heads the National Science and Technology Council’s (NSTC) Department of Engineering and Technologies. Projections show that the proportion of Taiwanese 65 or older would
Democracies must remain united in the face of a shifting geopolitical landscape, former president Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) told the Copenhagen Democracy Summit on Tuesday, while emphasizing the importance of Taiwan’s security to the world. “Taiwan’s security is essential to regional stability and to defending democratic values amid mounting authoritarianism,” Tsai said at the annual forum in the Danish capital. Noting a “new geopolitical landscape” in which global trade and security face “uncertainty and unpredictability,” Tsai said that democracies must remain united and be more committed to building up resilience together in the face of challenges. Resilience “allows us to absorb shocks, adapt under
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) yesterday said it is building nine new advanced wafer manufacturing and packaging factories this year, accelerating its expansion amid strong demand for high-performance computing (HPC) and artificial intelligence (AI) applications. The chipmaker built on average five factories per year from 2021 to last year and three from 2017 to 2020, TSMC vice president of advanced technology and mask engineering T.S. Chang (張宗生) said at the company’s annual technology symposium in Hsinchu City. “We are quickening our pace even faster in 2025. We plan to build nine new factories, including eight wafer fabrication plants and one advanced
RSS