The invitation list for Chen Shui-bian's (
Among the estimated 1,600 guests now jetting in to Taipei to witness the country's first transition in political power are notable figures such as East Timor's Nobel laureate Bishop Carlos Belo, and Cambodia's outspoken opposition leader Sam Rainsy.
Former Chinese student democracy leader Wang Dan (王丹) will also be among those in attendance, while human rights activist Wei Jingsheng (
Other leaders who were invited but could not come include Tibet's exiled spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, Myanmar's opposition leader and Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, and former Philippine President Corazon Aquino.
A delegation led by Tibetan parliamentary leader Samdhong Rinpoche, however, will be attending the May 20 inauguration, while Suu Kyi has sent a letter thanking Chen for the invitation and explained there were great difficulties in sending a representative.
Another Nobel laureate, Lech Walesa, the first president of Poland in the post-communist era, is also on the list.
A key figure in pushing for democratic reform in Asia, former New York congressman Stephen Solarz, will also be among the distinguished guests at the Presidential Office this weekend. Solarz had been a fierce critic of the KMT regime when Taiwan was under martial law.
Who Else is Coming to Dinner?
Overall, there are 80-plus delegations coming from among the 29 countries with formal diplomatic relations with Taiwan, 28 countries without formal ties, and 11 international organizations.
In contrast to outgoing President Lee Teng-hui's (李登輝) inauguration in 1996 -- where eight heads-of-state were in attendance -- national leaders from Swazi-land, Nicaragua, the Dominican Republic, Palau and Nauru will be present tomorrow.
President Lee is to formally welcome each leader with a 21-gun salute at Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall this morning. The new president will see the leaders off with a similar ceremony in the afternoon of May 22.
Tonight, outgoing Minister of Foreign Affairs Chen Chien-jen (程建人) is to host a cocktail party for all the visiting foreign guests in addition to officials from Taiwan's own government.
An estimated 5000 people will be rubbing shoulders during the event at the Taipei Guest House.
The Hilton Hotel is expected to dispatch 50 chefs to lay on an array of Taiwanese snacks, grouped to reflect different regional and ethnic specialties.
The street vendor-style foods range from dan-dan noodles (擔仔麵) and lotus seed flavored stripe soup (蓮子豬肚四神湯) -- specialties from Chen's birthplace of Tainan -- to oyster vermicelli (蚵仔麵線) and tofu pudding (豆花).
Inauguration Day
On inauguration day, Chen will first take his oath of office at 9am in front of a statue of Sun Yat-sen (孫逸仙) and the national flag followed by a public declaration of a presidential oath at 11am, the first such oath ever for an ROC president.
The swearing-in ceremony will be presided over by Judicial Yuan President Weng Yueh-sheng (
Due to limited space in the Presidential Office, only the five heads-of-state will witness the swearing-in at 9am.
Another 300 foreign guests will give congratulatory addresses to the new president between 10am and 11am.
The Big Night
Tomorrow evening, the new Minister of Foreign Affairs, Tien Hung-mao (
Following the event will be the state banquet, to be held on the 12th floor of the Grand Hotel.
Around 300 guests are expected at the dinner, with foreign dignitaries making up half of the guests.
The banquet menu is a mix of traditional Chinese dishes complimented by Taiwanese street-stall snacks and desserts.
The nine-course dinner begins with fresh asparagus wrapped in Norwegian salmon, milkfish soup (
Guests then finish off the banquet with perhaps the most politically significant dish -- the taro and sweet potato sponge cake (
Taro (芋頭), in local slang, refers to a mainlander, while sweet potato (蕃薯) means a Hokkien-speaking Taiwanese, making an obvious tribute to Taiwan's political makeup and the harmony that has grown between the two ethnic groups since the KMT took control of the island over half a century ago.
The sweet potato also symbolizes the poor background in which Chen, the so-called "native son of Taiwan," grew up.
Following their swearing-in, Chen and Annette Lu (呂秀蓮) will begin separately receiving the 80-plus foreign delegations in 10- to 15-minute intervals beginning the afternoon of May 20, and will continue to do so during interim periods until the morning of May 22. Most of the guests are scheduled to leave Taiwan on either May 22 or May 23.
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