As only the second ever non-African head of state to visit Chad, Taiwan's President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) was given on Wednesday evening in its capital, N'Djamena, the most elaborate welcome of his six-country tour.
Chad had even, to Chen's surprise, named a 10km road running from the capital to the bridge across the Chari River, "Avenue Chen Shui-bian," as a token of its gratitude for Taiwan's assistance in improving its communications system. On seeing the road sign, Chen proposed that it be changed to "Avenue ROC." Eventually "Taiwan Avenue" was agreed upon.
Chad will also name the bridge for whose construction Taiwan donated US$20 million, "Taiwan Bridge." Chad is the last stop on Chen's first presidential foreign visit, which has included three countries in Central America and three in west Africa.
PHOTO: CHEN CHENG-CHANG, TAIPEI TIMES
Thousands of people crowded the streets from the airport to Chad's presidential mansion to welcome Chen.
Members of the crowd, estimated by the delegation to be even larger than that which turned out to welcome the president in the Gambian capital Banjul, brandished national flags and banners of both countries, chanted words of welcome, and sang and danced to celebrate Chen's arrival.
Accompanying Chad's President Idriss Deby, Chen stood in a stretch limousine, leading a thirty-car motorcade, and waved to the crowds.
Posters of Deby and of Chen, the latter provided by Taiwan's embassy, bedecked walls, trees, and the doors of houses seemingly ubiquitously.
According to officials from Taiwan's embassy, the Chad government ordered the cleaning of all major streets in the capital a week ago and the national television channel repeatedly broadcast popular Taiwanese music and broadcast details of Chen's life.
Taiwan's Ambassador, Chiu Chung-jen (邱仲仁), said that the government had granted half a day's holiday for the occasion.
The first non-African head of state to visit Chad was former French president, Charles De Gaulle, who visited in the 1960s as head of the country's former colonial master. Chad declared independence from France in 1960.
Deby expressed a hearty welcome while meeting with Chen, saying the assistance of the Republic of China over the past three years had improved Chad's development "efficiently."
"Not only in agricultural development and highway construction but also in culture, politics, health and economics we have accomplished much," Deby told Chen. Deby pointed out that Taiwan-Chad relations stretched as far back as the 1960s.
Chad first established ties with Taiwan in 1962 but opened its door to the People's Republic of China in 1972, prompting Taiwan to immediately sever diplomatic relations.
The two countries re-established diplomatic relations in 1997 following the granting by Taiwan of substantial financial aid to Chad in the 1990s.
Ambassador Chiu said that since the World Development Bank approved a project allowing Chad to drill for oil in July this year, the nation would receive US$2 billion per year once requisite construction work had been completed in four years' time.
Chiu, however, said that oil revenues would only be likely to last 25 years.
Authorities have detained three former Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TMSC, 台積電) employees on suspicion of compromising classified technology used in making 2-nanometer chips, the Taiwan High Prosecutors’ Office said yesterday. Prosecutors are holding a former TSMC engineer surnamed Chen (陳) and two recently sacked TSMC engineers, including one person surnamed Wu (吳) in detention with restricted communication, following an investigation launched on July 25, a statement said. The announcement came a day after Nikkei Asia reported on the technology theft in an exclusive story, saying TSMC had fired two workers for contravening data rules on advanced chipmaking technology. Two-nanometer wafers are the most
Tsunami waves were possible in three areas of Kamchatka in Russia’s Far East, the Russian Ministry for Emergency Services said yesterday after a magnitude 7.0 earthquake hit the nearby Kuril Islands. “The expected wave heights are low, but you must still move away from the shore,” the ministry said on the Telegram messaging app, after the latest seismic activity in the area. However, the Pacific Tsunami Warning System in Hawaii said there was no tsunami warning after the quake. The Russian tsunami alert was later canceled. Overnight, the Krasheninnikov volcano in Kamchatka erupted for the first time in 600 years, Russia’s RIA
CHINA’s BULLYING: The former British prime minister said that he believes ‘Taiwan can and will’ protect its freedom and democracy, as its people are lovers of liberty Former British prime minister Boris Johnson yesterday said Western nations should have the courage to stand with and deepen their economic partnerships with Taiwan in the face of China’s intensified pressure. He made the remarks at the ninth Ketagalan Forum: 2025 Indo-Pacific Security Dialogue hosted by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Prospect Foundation in Taipei. Johnson, who is visiting Taiwan for the first time, said he had seen Taiwan’s coastline on a screen on his indoor bicycle, but wanted to learn more about the nation, including its artificial intelligence (AI) development, the key technology of the 21st century. Calling himself an
South Korea yesterday said that it was removing loudspeakers used to blare K-pop and news reports to North Korea, as the new administration in Seoul tries to ease tensions with its bellicose neighbor. The nations, still technically at war, had already halted propaganda broadcasts along the demilitarized zone, Seoul’s military said in June after the election of South Korean President Lee Jae-myung. It said in June that Pyongyang stopped transmitting bizarre, unsettling noises along the border that had become a major nuisance for South Korean residents, a day after South Korea’s loudspeakers fell silent. “Starting today, the military has begun removing the loudspeakers,”