President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) may visit the Dominican Republic during his state visit to Honduras next week to show the nation’s support and bring more aid to Haiti quake victims, the Presidential Office said yesterday.
The Presidential Office yesterday announced that Ma would visit Honduras from Jan. 25 to Jan. 30, and Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Javier Hou (侯清山) said the ministry was making contacts and weighing the possibility of arranging for Ma to visit the Dominican Republic and express the nation’s support for Haiti’s quake victims.
“We are still making contact and evaluating the situation to see whether the president could fly to the Dominican Republic to express our concerns about our friends in Haiti. It’s likely that we will arrange the visit,” he told a press conference at the Presidential Office.
Hou added that the situation in Haiti was chaotic, and the Dominican Republic is now serving as the center for rescue efforts for Haiti.
“We need to also consider whether our visit would cause trouble for Haiti,” he said, adding that technical issues such as the flight schedule and flight rights were also concerns.
Hou said the ministry’s staff in Haiti would meet with Haitian President Rene Preval to discuss details about Taiwan’s donations to Haiti. The ministry will prepare rescue aid and give more donations to the country if Ma’s visit to the Dominican Republic is confirmed.
The itinerary showed that Ma would make a one-night stopover in San Francisco before heading to the Honduran capital of Tegucigalpa and a short stopover in Los Angeles on the way back to Taiwan.
Also See: MOFA explores Haiti aid delivery
Also See: EDITORIAL : Haiti’s tragedy and Taiwan
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