Vice President Annette Lu (
Lu dismissed speculation that the her trip had anything to do with US relations.
"The main purpose of my trip is to stand in for President Chen Shui-bian (
Local media had wrongly speculated that Lu would make a stopover in the Big Apple.
Lu said that she is particularly interested in going to Hawaii, where she said she hopes to establish a common ground with local dignitaries for future cooperation.
Lu also brushed aside speculation that her trip to Panama was prompted by shaky relations with the diplomatic ally.
"It's totally untrue," she said. "The reason that my trip includes Panama is because it's one of the countries I've never been to in Central America."
Lu also expressed her gratitude to the US government for promising to afford her delegation safety, comfort, convenience and to treat them with dignity.
According to Presidential Office Deputy Secretary General Joseph Wu (
Another 12-person group composed of tourism industry leaders will join Lu in Hawaii to visit tourism facilities.
Lu also plans to invite foreign dignitaries to attend the Pacific Democratic Assembly in Taipei in September, Wu said.
In August, Lu announced a plan to convene the Pacific Democratic Assembly in preparation for the establishment of a pacific democratic union. Japan, the US, Indonesia, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, Panama and Costa Rica have already agreed to join, Lu said. The vice president plans to recruit all 34 Pacific Rim countries with the aim of strengthening exchanges between member countries.
Lu is scheduled to address the Paraguay Parliament and attend the opening ceremony of a housing project, Wu said. She will also meet with Second Vice President Dominador Kaiser Bazan and Panamanian President Mireya Moscoso. Lu will personally invite Moscoso to attend the Central America leaders' summit on Aug. 21.
During the two-night stopover in Hawaii, Lu is scheduled to meet with Hawaiian State Governor Benjamin Cayetano and state congressmen. She will also meet with overseas-Taiwanese groups during her two-night stopover in Los Angeles.
The last leg of Lu's trip will take her to Seattle, where she hopes to visit the Microsoft headquarters.
The Taipei Department of Health yesterday said it has launched a probe into a restaurant at Far Eastern Sogo Xinyi A13 Department Store after a customer died of suspected food poisoning. A preliminary investigation on Sunday found missing employee health status reports and unsanitary kitchen utensils at Polam Kopitiam (寶林茶室) in the department store’s basement food court, the department said. No direct relationship between the food poisoning death and the restaurant was established, as no food from the day of the incident was available for testing and no other customers had reported health complaints, it said, adding that the investigation is ongoing. Later
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