Vice President Annette Lu (
Lu, who sat beside the governor at a national banquet given by El Salvador's new President Elias Antonio Saca, asked the governor to convey her appreciation to the US leader for his long-term support for Taiwan.
PHOTO: CNA
Knowing of Jeb Bush's friendship with Therese Shaheen, the former chairperson of the American Institute in Taiwan, Lu also asked him to convey her greetings to Shaheen.
They also talked about increasing trade exchanges between Taiwan and Florida. The governor said that he has visited Taiwan four times, with the last visit in 1991. Lu invited him to visit again, and he said he would consider this. In turn, the governor invited Lu to visit his state.
Lu also spoke about the impact on the world of SARS, adding that if Taiwan were allowed to join the World Health Organization, it would able to contribute its experience in fighting the disease.
Earlier, Lu attended the inauguration of Saca and new Vice President Ana Vilma Albanez de Escorbar.
Although she has not completely recovered from the leg wound she received during the March 19 shooting incident, she did not use crutches during the ceremony. She has refused the use of wheelchairs on this trip, preferring to use crutches even though they caused bruising to her left hand during her busy two-day transit stay in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Since arriving in El Salvador on Sunday evening, she kept the use of crutches to a minimum.
On Monday, Lu called on the former president and vice presi-dent, as well as Saca and Albanez de Escorbar.
She also delivered a speech at El Salvador's University of Technology and visited a residential community in Chanmico City on the outskirts of San Salvador, which was built in 2001 by the Buddhist Compassionate Relief Tzu Chi Foundation after two strong earthquakes wreaked havoc in San Salvador.
Lu was scheduled to hold an international press conference yesterday before continuing on to Costa Rica, the second stop of her Central American trip.
Her 14-day diplomatic visit will also take her to Guatemala. On her way back to Taipei, she will make a transit stop in San Francisco.
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