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Leach to lead US delegation

The US administration has decided to send a senior congressman as its envoy for next Thursday's inauguration of President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁), officials said yesterday.

Representative James Leach, a Republican who heads the East Asian and Pacific affairs subcommittee of the House of Representatives' international relations committee, is expected to lead a delegation to the inauguration ceremony, the Presidential Office Deputy Secretary-General Joseph Wu (吳釗燮) said.

"The president was very happy to learn that Leach will represent the US administration at the event in Taiwan," said Wu, who has been appointed to head the Mainland Affairs Council after the inauguration.

Wu said Chen felt that Leach, 61, has close links with President George W. Bush's administration, and his heading the group "represents the close relations between Taiwan and the United States."

Refusing to disclose the number of members in the delegation, Wu added that a staunch supporter of Taiwan, Alaska's Governor Frank Murkowski, is also scheduled to come for the inauguration.

Washington has been slow in deciding who to send for the ceremony after Chen's razor-thin victory in the March election.

Meanwhile, Leach told a Hong Kong-based television channel Thursday that he feels very heavy responsibility in being appointed head of the US delegation that will attend the inauguration ceremony.

Leach said during an interview with reporters for Phoenix Satellite TV that he might bring to the Taiwanese leadership important messages from White House -- messages that could outline the latest US policy toward Taiwan.

He declined to disclose anything further about the messages, saying that they have not yet been finalized, although he added that he will inform the Taiwanese authorities about the messages' content in advance once he has been notified by the Bush administration.

Leach said the coming four years will be a crucial period in deciding how the cross-strait issue should be settled and he admitted that uncertainty in the current situation is of great concern to the US.

He said he was very worried about the politically volatile situation across the Taiwan Strait, which is why he has urged all parties concerned to exercise the greatest possible degree of prudence at this juncture.
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