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Ma tells Young he would like to visit US before May 20

During a meeting with American Institute in Taiwan Director Stephen Young, president-elect Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) said yesterday he hoped to visit the US before his inauguration.

Ma said he told Young he would like to visit the US before assuming office on May 20 and that Young had commented on the cross-strait situation.

"I told him that we [Taiwan] will be a peacemaker instead of a troublemaker and that I will encourage mutual trust [between Taiwan and the US] and improve bilateral relations," he said.

Young said Washington would have the final say on whether Ma would be able to visit the US before his swearing in.

"I am very happy to have a good relationship with him [Ma]. We will continue to improve our bilateral relations [between the two countries] and our personal relationship. US-Taiwan relations are of the greatest importance," Young said in Mandarin.

Ma told Japanese reporters on Sunday that he would like to visit Japan before his inauguration.

Meanwhile, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Wu Poh-hsiung (吳伯雄) met with George P. Bush, nephew of US President George W. Bush, to exchange ideas on issues such as cross-strait relations, economic exchanges and copyright protection.

During a celebration of the national baseball team's qualification for the Olympics, Ma yesterday assured the team that he supported its participation in Beijing.

Before winning the presidential election, Ma had said he would not rule out the possibility of boycotting the Beijing Olympics if the situation in Tibet worsened.

Ma said he would seek consensus before making a decision on participation in the Olympics.

Also See: Post-Election 2008: Cross-strait relations still present challenges: official
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