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Taiwan quick take

Diplomacy: Chen promotes a global view
President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) yesterday urged people to work out their differences in order to promote world peace and prosperity. Chen made the remarks in an address at the opening ceremony of the 29th Asian Regional Training and Development Organization, which will last until tomorrow. He extended a warm welcome to the human resources experts and scholars from 16 countries and regions who are attending the meeting. He urged the participants to plan for the further development of human rights resources and especially to span the digital bridge built by computer technology "so that the fruit of a knowledge-oriented economy can be enjoyed by all." He also said that the Sept. 11 attacks on the US have made people realize that they are interdependent in the global village, so that an attack on one place will also affect other places, while a slumping economy in one region will affect the livelihoods of those in other regions.

Direct links: Penghu set to take off
Vice President Annette Lu (呂秀蓮) said yesterday that the offshore county of Penghu promises to become one of the most important gateways when direct transportation links open with China. Lu traveled to Makung, Penghu's capital, yesterday to officiate at a ceremony marking the opening of the expanded, newly refurbished Makung airport. The airport is set to undergo further work and become an international airport in the future. Addressing the ceremony, Lu said Penghu, which was selected as the "happiest city" in Taiwan by Common Wealth magazine this year, is expected to have much greater strategic importance as a gateway for goods and travelers across the Taiwan Strait after the Makung Harbor project is completed. The Makung Harbor expansion project, an ambitious plan to develop a group of ports around Penghu Bay is poised to "add wings" to the "tiger" of the Makung airport when finished, Lu claimed.

Literature: Nobel laureate visits Taipei
Poet and Nobel laureate Derek Walcott met Taipei Mayor Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) for wide-ranging talks shortly after his arrival yesterday for a 10-day visit. Walcott, a prolific writer who won the 1992 Nobel Prize in literature, told Ma that he loves Chinese culture and is happy to come to Taiwan to meet Chinese literary figures and see the lifestyle here. Walcott, who was born on the Caribbean island of St. Lucia, presented a collection of his poems to Ma as a gift. In return, Ma gave Walcott the Key to Taipei and seals engraved with Walcott's Chinese and English names. In addition to writing poems, Walcott has written plays and essays. He has published 21 collections of poems as well as 30-plus plays and volumes of essays throughout his half-century career. The 72-year-old Nobel laureate will present a poetry recital today at Taipei City Hall in downtown Taipei.

Foreign affairs: Tien pushes democratization
Taipei's representative to the UK yesterday called on the international community to help China move toward democratization. Tien Hung-mao (田弘茂) told a crowd of business, political and media figures in Scotland that China's democratization was in the interests of Taiwan and the Asia-Pacific region. Tien called on other democratic countries to promote Taiwan's right to participate in the international community and urged them to join Taiwan in pushing for political reform across the strait.

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