President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) will not stop in Anchorage, Alaska, but in the Dominican Republic and Abu Dhabi on his way back from his state visit to Latin America, Minister of Foreign Affairs James Huang (黃志芳) said yesterday.
"We've informed the US government of our decision," he said. "We really don't want to bother our friends [US officials] by going all the way to Anchorage for the president's two-hour refueling stop."
Huang made the remarks during a tea party Chen held for the media in Costa Rica yesterday, which was broadcast live in Taiwan.
Chen told the reporters that he didn't think the transit dispute would affect Taiwan-US relations.
Since Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) had suggested that Chen stop in Anchorage as planned, Chen said he was curious to know what Ma would do if he were president.
"Despite all the restrictions, I managed to make transit stops in the continental US in 2000 and 2001," Chen said. "This time, I could only have stopped in Anchorage and Honolulu for five hours for refueling."
While some have argued that the US transit dispute was targeted at Chen, he said the problem had nothing to do with who was president or which party was in power.
"I believe even Ma would encounter the same problem if he were the president," Chen said. "The president represents the country and the country's sovereignty. Was the humiliating treatment 12 years ago targeted at former president Lee Teng-hui (李登輝) personally? I believe the answer is no."
When Lee was offered Honolulu as the only transit option on his way to Costa Rica in 1994, he wore pajamas in the plane to express his discontent.
"Do you want me to wear slip-pers and pajamas, to do the same thing again?" Chen asked. "If I had done so, I could have embarrassed the US government, but what good would it do for my country?"
"I prefer to spend more time in the air and sure, it is an awfully long flight, very uncomfortable and very inconvenient, but at least we are left with our dignity," he said.
Chen said the decision not to stop in Anchorage was not an impulsive act but a considered matter of national interest.
As for the original plan to make a transit stop in Beirut, Lebanon, Chen said he had been surprised to be refused permission to stop there.
"It would not have been a surprise if we could have stopped in Beirut because we have been working very hard," he said. "Unfortunately, the US government informed the media at a critical point of our decision not to stop in Anchorage, making the local media start a guessing game about other possible transit locations," he said.
He dismissed speculation that the transit arrangements showed US displeasure with his decision to mothball the National Unification Council, saying both sides had reached agreement on the matter.
He also brushed aside media reports that he was unhappy with National Security Council Secretary General Chiou I-jen (邱義仁), who was portrayed as being overly optimistic about the US government's response to the transit application.
also see stories:
Editorial: Transit saga no cause for celebration
Chen's woes reveal need for some US reflection
NO HUMAN ERROR: After the incident, the Coast Guard Administration said it would obtain uncrewed aerial vehicles and vessels to boost its detection capacity Authorities would improve border control to prevent unlawful entry into Taiwan’s waters and safeguard national security, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said yesterday after a Chinese man reached the nation’s coast on an inflatable boat, saying he “defected to freedom.” The man was found on a rubber boat when he was about to set foot on Taiwan at the estuary of Houkeng River (後坑溪) near Taiping Borough (太平) in New Taipei City’s Linkou District (林口), authorities said. The Coast Guard Administration’s (CGA) northern branch said it received a report at 6:30am yesterday morning from the New Taipei City Fire Department about a
IN BEIJING’S FAVOR: A China Coast Guard spokesperson said that the Chinese maritime police would continue to carry out law enforcement activities in waters it claims The Philippines withdrew its coast guard vessel from a South China Sea shoal that has recently been at the center of tensions with Beijing. BRP Teresa Magbanua “was compelled to return to port” from Sabina Shoal (Xianbin Shoal, 仙濱暗沙) due to bad weather, depleted supplies and the need to evacuate personnel requiring medical care, the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) spokesman Jay Tarriela said yesterday in a post on X. The Philippine vessel “will be in tiptop shape to resume her mission” after it has been resupplied and repaired, Philippine Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin, who heads the nation’s maritime council, said
REGIONAL STABILITY: Taipei thanked the Biden administration for authorizing its 16th sale of military goods and services to uphold Taiwan’s defense and safety The US Department of State has approved the sale of US$228 million of military goods and services to Taiwan, the US Department of Defense said on Monday. The state department “made a determination approving a possible Foreign Military Sale” to the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office in the US for “return, repair and reshipment of spare parts and related equipment,” the defense department’s Defense Security Cooperation Agency said in a news release. Taiwan had requested the purchase of items and services which include the “return, repair and reshipment of classified and unclassified spare parts for aircraft and related equipment; US Government
More than 500 people on Saturday marched in New York in support of Taiwan’s entry to the UN, significantly more people than previous years. The march, coinciding with the ongoing 79th session of the UN General Assembly, comes close on the heels of growing international discourse regarding the meaning of UN Resolution 2758. Resolution 2758, adopted by the UN General Assembly in 1971, recognizes the People’s Republic of China (PRC) as the “only lawful representative of China.” It resulted in the Republic of China (ROC) losing its seat at the UN to the PRC. Taiwan has since been excluded from