President Chen Shui-bian (
Chen made the remarks during a cruise down the Hudson River on Saturday evening.
"Tonight, the president from Taiwan can get together with so many expatriates and supporters on the same ship in New York, which is a thing that could never happen in the past," Chen said. "This scenario shows that the relationship between Taiwan and the US had been improving steadily in the past three years, and it is like a person eating a sugar cane from the bottom and the taste getting better with each bite."
PHOTO: AP
Under a starry sky, Chen, accompanied by Taiwan's representative to the US, Chen Chien-jen (
Straying from the theme of his prepared speech, Chen talked about his feelings on the three visits he had made to the US as the president in the past three years and on the diplomatic breakthroughs he has made in the past two days in New York.
"In August 2000, we made our first visit to Los Angeles. Back then I could only meet 15 expatriates in my hotel room, and it was not open to the media. Even the congressmen could not meet me officially but had to slip in via the kitchen to see me," Chen said.
"In May 2001, we made a visit to New York and made some improvements. We met with 150 expatriates and we could all sit down to dine together. Even 22 congressmen came to the dinner banquet from Washington," Chen said.
"This year, still in New York, we have met with 450 expatriates, and the media was also allowed to participate and report on the event. Congressmen did not have to slip in via the kitchen to meet me," he said.
Chen stressed that he had mixed feeling about the treatment, because ordinary people could stay in New York freely, but as Taiwan's leader he could hardly go anywhere due to the lack of official ties between the US and Taiwan and pressure from China.
"Even when former president Lee Teng-hui (
"Afterwards it also took quite a lot of effort to smooth over the tension between Taiwan and China caused by the speech," Chen said.
"But now we are allowed to engage in public activities, conduct public speeches, accept an award and interact with the media. These are very precious achievements," he said.
Chen then praised the US government for its support for Taiwan and the friendship between the two countries. He said that in 2001 when he won Liberal International's freedom prize, he did not have the freedom to accept the prize himself.
"Many countries, even European ones which put an emphasis on human rights, treat us thus. In comparison, US is Taiwan's real friend," Chen said.
Chen emphasized his breakthroughs to make listeners feel that the relationship between the US and Taiwan is strong. But in fact because of Chen's recent policy moves back home, including the referendum issue and a new constitution, Chen's aides were quite worried that the US government would be unhappy and downsize the reception for Chen.
Therefore, before the trip Chen's aides were trying to get the media to focus on the strengthening understanding and trust between Taiwan and the US during the trip, hoping to lower the media's expectation of the scale of Chen's reception.
"In fact, Chen also hoped to make direct, intensive explanations of Taiwan's stand and his ideology to the Taiwan-friendly congressmen and guarantee that he would not cross the Bush administration's red line," DPP Legislator Parris Chang, who has followed Chen to the US, said.
After two days of activities, the Taiwanese reporters following Chen and the foreign affairs ministry officials in the US were all surprised that Chen's performances in each function broke the framework previously agreed by both sides. Chen even crossed over the gray area in the diplomatic arena and pushed the US' bottom line further down.
For example, Chen managed to walk into the crowd to greet them on the day he arrived, he also talked to the media in public and his speech did not follow his prepared copy faithfully. His aides also helped to publicize and politicize almost all activities.
But it takes further analysis on Washington's reaction and talks to see whether Chen's breakthrough will construct a new mode for the interaction between Taiwan and the US, or would force the US government to re-examine the relationship between the two countries.
Meanwhile, major Taiwanese groups and diplomats in the US all think that Shaheen has played an important role in Chen's success in various activities.
"Compared with former chairman Richard Bush, who adopted the conservative style of a professional diplomat, Shaheen is a more open, passionate entrepreneur," aid Joyce Chang (
"Her style indeed helped the Taiwanese delegation feel at home and even do whatever they want," she said.
"Shaheen fully demonstrated her authorization from the US government. The level of interaction the president had with our American friends and Taiwanese in the US is way over the original expectation. But it would be interesting to see whether the tension between Shaheen and the Department of the State will heighten afterwards," Chang said.
Shaheen is a successful businesswoman who has never been a diplomat but has a professional diplomat for a husband.
When Chen was touting the US on the ship last night, and explaining that all breakthroughs were consented and agreed on by Shaheen, Shaheen immediately mentioned the Department of State and US President George W. Bush to serve as an endorsement for her actions, and that further leveraged the level of Chen's reception by the US.
After Chen said several times that when everyone was on the same boat, no one should question the captain but should trust the captain fully, Shaheen responded by saying light-heartedly that she felt nervous, but fortunately there were State Department people present there to maintain security.
Then she said that she was proud of the past two days, proud of both Taiwan and the US, and that Chen's successful visit to the US happened because many angels were guarding him, especially the most important "secret angel," Bush.
"Shaheen may seem to be talking gibberish on the surface, but if we read into her words carefully, it can be seen that she is quite sensitive and subtle," said Jou Yi-cheng (
"She brought in the Department of State at the right time, and even mentions her close ties with Bush. It serves as an endorsement for A-bian's diplomatic breakthrough," she said
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