President Chen Shui-bian's (陳水扁) trip to the nation's African allies later this month will not include any stopovers in Eastern Europe or Asia, Presidential Office Spokesman James Huang (黃志芳) said last night.
The announcement ended speculation that the president would stopover in Eastern European and Asian nations which do not have ties with Taiwan.
As of yesterday afternoon, a government official told the Taipei Times that Chen was still hoping to make the stops, including possibly in the Czech Republic. But Huang said last night that those stopovers would no longer be pursued. He did not elaborate.
Chen will depart for the trip, his third diplomatic tour, June 28 on a China Airlines Airbus.
"The president will head a special delegation to Senegal, Sao Tome and Principe, Malawi and Swaziland," a foreign ministry official said. "Originally, the president was also scheduled to visit Liberia, but since the country is still in the midst of civil unrest, the visit has been canceled because of safety considerations."
Since taking office in 2000, Chen has made two visits to Taiwan's diplomatic allies. On both occasions, Chen and his delegation flew on an EVA 747-400 wide-bodied jet, with accompanying staff, officials and media totaling around 200 people.
The China Airlines A-300 Airbus will be used for this trip because some of the airports in the African nations Chen will visit are unable to receive large planes. Chen's entourage will be around 100 people.
"After the China Airlines disaster over Penghu on May 25, the president considered switching to another airline in order to avoid disrupting disaster-related operations and the airline's internal restructuring.
"Ultimately he decided against this lest it should be perceived as a lack of trust in China Airlines. In addition, another airline would not have had enough time to equip a plane with the required safety facilities and the level of comfort required. In the end the decision was to retain the A-300 for the trip," the source, a government official, said.
Suggestions that the president would have stopovers in Eastern Europe had been the center of much speculation. Officials had refused to be specific, though they did say that the Czech Republic was one possibility. At one point a stop in the Middle East was also mentioned.
The president should arrive in Senegal on June 30 or July 1, San Tome on July 4, Malawi on July 6 and then Swaziland on July 8. He will leave Africa July 10.
"The focus of the president's visit will be on human-rights issues. He hopes to provide medical, agricultural and educational assistance," said DPP lawmaker Parris Chang (張旭成), who is part of the delegation. "Taiwan is currently working all out to enter the World Health Organization, and Africa is in great need of medical resources. This will be a chance to show Taiwan's commitment to international medical cooperation."
The Presidential Office also said that Chen will formally congratulate Senegal for its performance in the World Cup, offering many gifts related to soccer. He might even play a little soccer with the president of Senegal.
In addition to Parris Chang, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs invited the various political parties to put forward candidates to accompany the president. These include Taipei County Commissioner Su Chen-chang (蘇貞昌), who represents the DPP, Yulin County Commissioner Chang Jung-wei (張榮味), who represents the KMT and Taitung County Commissioner Hsu Ching-yuan (徐慶元) of the PFP.
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