Sports: Chen meets sumo champ
President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) received Chiyo Fuji (千代富士), former Japanese yokozuna (grand champion) sumo wrestler, at the Presidential Office yesterday afternoon. Chen said he hoped Chiyo's visit would set the stage for Japanese sumo wrestlers to tour Taiwan, as well as strengthen sports exchanges between the two countries. The president recalled that he first met Chiyo five years ago when he was Taipei mayor. "People crowded into City Hall to catch a glimpse of Japan's most well-known figure in sumo," Chen said. Chiyo first entered the sumo competition at the noted Kokonoe sumo stadium when he was 15 years old. His career peaked in 1981.
Cross-strait ties: MAC looking ahead
Taiwan should seek to reduce internal conflicts and strengthen its economic clout ahead of the Chinese Communist Party's 16th National Congress in November, in order to increase its bargaining power in bilateral dealings, an official of the Mainland Affairs Council said yesterday. Chang Shu-tis(張樹隸), deputy director of the council's department of research and planning, made the comment as he spoke about yesterday's meeting of the council's advisory board, chaired by MAC Chairwoman Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文). Chang said the advisory members were almost unanimous in their belief that the uproar over President Chen Shui-bian's (陳水扁) "one country on each side" remarks is not over and that Taiwan should try to maintain the status-quo until early next year, when the party congress and the eighth anniversary of Chinese President Jiang Zemin's (江澤民) "Eight Points" remark have passed.
Local politics: Jason Hu to return from US
Taichung City Mayor Jason Hu is set to return to Taiwan today following a postponement of his return after he developed the early symptoms of a stroke during his vacation in San Francisco, city government officials said yesterday. Hu, who has been vacationing in the US since Aug. 9, suffered dizzy spells and headaches shortly after his arrival in San Francisco. Although his doctors suggested that he stay in the US for a few more days to fully recover, Hu made the decision to return to Taiwan. He is scheduled to arrive at Chiang Kai-shek International Airport at 10pm. City government officials will meet him at the airport. Deputy Mayor Hsiao Chia-chi, who canceled a scheduled trip to Australia set for next Monday, will be among the officials to receive Hu at the airport. After a few days of rest following his return, Hu is set to get back to work on Monday.
Diplomacy: Foreign ministers meet
At the Sixth Meeting of the Ministers of Foreign Affairs of Taiwan yesterday, representatives from Dominica, Grenada, St. Kitts and Nevis, and St. Vincent and the Grenadines reaffirmed their countries' commitment and support for the ROC's bid to join major international organizations, including the UN and the World Health Organization, Minister of Foreign Affairs Eugene Chien (簡又新) said that the meeting had demonstrated the closeness of diplomatic relations between the ROC and the Caribbean countries. Aside from strengthening integration in areas such as culture, trade and economics, agriculture and tourism, Taiwan has agreed to provide short-term medical services, scholarships for human resources training and computer equipment, according to the ministry's press release.
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