ADOPTION PROGRAM
Because thousands of children lost their parents in the earthquake, Wang said Ma also proposed an adoption program in which Taiwan’s government could work together with private institutions. Taiwan has adopted nearly 200,000 orphans from around the world, an outstanding record, Wang said.
Ma also met Consul to Haiti Chi Wang-teh (齊王德) at the airport before he and the delegation left for Los Angeles on Thursday. He telephoned Ambassador to Haiti Hsu Mien-sheng (徐勉生), who has been transferred to a hospital in Miami, Florida. Chi and Hsu were sent to Santo Domingo to receive medical attention after being pulled out of debris in Haiti’s capital, Port-au-Prince. They had been trapped for six hours before rescuers found them.
Ma was to leave Los Angeles for Taiwan yesterday morning and is due back in Taipei today.
CONCERN
Meanwhile, in Taipei, lawmakers yesterday voiced concern that Taiwan was being ripped off following reports that Panama’s president used a plane provided by Taipei for rescue missions as his private jet.
Local media have reported that Panamanian President Martin Torrijos took the Legacy 600 for personal use, while Taipei-based TVBS news said he flew it to Honduras for the inauguration of President Porfirio Lobo Sosa this week.
“We have to review our foreign aid policy so that we are not treated as a rich fool,” Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Lo Shu-lei (羅淑蕾) said.
Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Chen Ting-fei (陳亭妃) demanded that the Ma government explain whether it was engaging in “dollar diplomacy” with Panama.
The TVBS said Ma raised the issue during a meeting in Honduras with Torrijos, who replied that the jet had been used on relief missions including to quake-hit Haiti.
ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY AFP
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