Traveling to parts of the world that harbor an abundance of lethal diseases while being expected to stick to a tight schedule, President Chen Shui-bian's (陳水扁) first foreign visit is being regarded by those who will accompany him as a "global trip of difficulties" (環球苦行).
"Five of the nine members of our preparation team fell sick after returning from Central America and West Africa last month," Deputy secretary-general to the president Eugene Chien (簡又新) told reporters, "and some may fall sick up to six months after returning." Presidential Office officials revealed that even the director-general of the National Security Bureau Ting Yu-chou (丁渝洲) had also fallen ill, but up till now this information had been kept hidden from the public.
The National Security Council, which is in charge of every aspect of the president's foreign visit, therefore decided to improve the medical supplies and immediately expand the medical team from three to five doctors with two nurses.
"We have also prepare a blood bank for emergency situations," said Chien.
Officials revealed that former president Lee Teng-hui (
As to President Chen's visit, all visiting delegation members were vaccinated against yellow fever and cerebrospinal meningitis last month and have been taking anti-malarial pills.
"We suggest that all members of the delegation don't leave any toiletries or personal sanitary utensils in the hotel during the day to prevent them from being used by local hotel staff," Chien said.
"It will be better to use bottled water to wash your hands, face, and for brushing your teeth." Considering the bad sanitary conditions in some countries where the president will visit, the Presidential Office has prepared sufficient bottled water and food for the whole delegation to guard against any possibility of them falling sick from drinking unclean water or eating contaminated food.
"We even arranged for two chefs to cook food for the delegation," Chien said, "however, their primary duty is to take care of the president." The delegation is to be made up of around 220 persons, including about 120-130 officials (security guards and business leaders), 52 reporters and about 50 crew from EVA Air (
To offer a quality of service for the President, EVA Air has also designed a special menu for the journey, with local delicacies such as sticky rice dumplings (
"The EVA Air flight kitchens have even prepared a cake in the shape of the island of Taiwan," said an EVA Air official.
Though the government has declared it has fully evaluated every aspect of security for the president's visit, Presidential Office officials will be constantly in a state of alert against anything untoward happening.
"The president wants to lead Taiwan into the international community," said Minister of Foreign Affairs Tien Hung-mao (田弘茂). "This visit will not only prove the independent sovereignty of the Republic of China but also illustrates Taiwan's democracy after the successful and peaceful transfer of power."
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