President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) will embark on an eight-day diplomatic trip to Panama and Belize at the end of this month, with stopovers in Hawaii and Seattle, the Presidential Office said yesterday.
"The main purpose of the trip is to attend the inauguration of Panamanian President-elect Martin Torrijos on Sept. 1," Presidential Office Deputy Secretary-General James Huang (黃志芳) said during a press conference.
It will be Chen's first official trip abroad since his re-election in March.
"Because the president is busy dealing with national affairs, the trip has been arranged with security, convenience and simplicity firmly in mind," Huang said.
Chen will leave on Aug. 29 with a one-night stopover in Hawaii before arriving in Panama on Aug. 31 for a two-day visit.
Apart from attending the inauguration of president-elect Martin Torrijos, Chen will also attend a banquet hosted by outgoing President Mireya Elisa Moscoso and hold interviews with the international press.
Chen will then travel to Belize, a Central American ally which Chen has not had a chance to visit until now.
Chen will sign a joint communique with Belizean Prime Minister Said Musa during his one-day visit as well as receiving the keys to Belize City.
Chen and Musa will also decorate each other, Huang said.
Chen will also take basketballs and soccer balls as a gift to Belize, Huang added.
Chen is scheduled to return on Sept. 5.
Minister of Foreign Affairs Mark Chen (
"Whoever [the US representatives may be,] the ministry will try to arrange for Chen to have an opportunity to chat with them," Mark Chen said.
Huang said that Chen Shui-bian would not be able to meet with Hawaiian Governor Linda Lingle during his brief stopover in Hawaii, as Lingle would be away in New York attending the Republican Party's national convention.
It was also unlikely that Chen Shui-bian would meet with Washington Governor Gary Locke in Seattle since Locke would be attending his daughter's wedding, Huang said.
Despite this, Mark Chen said the ministry will arrange for Chen to meet with other US political figures as well as overseas Taiwanese groups.
When asked whether the president would take the opportunity to visit his son, Chen Chih-chung (
"The trip is of a working nature," Huang said.
"The president does not arrange travel itineraries based on personal matters," he said.
Kenting National Park service technician Yang Jien-fon (楊政峰) won a silver award in World Grand Prix Photography Awards Spring Season for his photograph of two male rat snakes intertwined in combat. Yang’s colleagues at Kenting National Park said he is a master of nature photography who has been held back by his job in civil service. The awards accept entries in all four seasons across six categories: architectural and urban photography, black-and-white and fine art photography, commercial and fashion photography, documentary and people photography, nature and experimental photography, and mobile photography. Awards are ranked according to scores and divided into platinum, gold and
SPACE VETERAN: Kjell N. Lindgren, who helps lead NASA’s human spaceflight missions, has been on two expeditions on the ISS and has spent 311 days in space Taiwan-born US astronaut Kjell N. Lindgren is to visit Taiwan to promote technological partnerships through one of the programs organized by the US for its 250th national anniversary. Lindgren would be in Taiwan from Tuesday to Saturday next week as part of the US Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs’ US Speaker Program, organized to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) said in a statement yesterday. Lindgren plans to engage with key leaders across the nation “to advance cutting-edge technological partnerships and inspire the next generation of scientists and engineers,”
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) caucus yesterday said it opposes the introduction of migrant workers from India until a mechanism is in place to prevent workers from absconding. Minister of Labor Hung Sun-han (洪申翰) on Thursday told the Legislative Yuan that the first group of migrant workers from India could be introduced as early as this year, as part of a government program. The caucus’ opposition to the policy is based on the assessment that “the risk is too high,” KMT caucus secretary-general Lin Pei-hsiang (林沛祥) said. Taiwan has a serious and long-standing problem of migrant workers absconding from their contracts, indicating that
UNREASONABLE SURVEILLANCE: A camera targeted on an road by a neighbor captured a man’s habitual unsignaled turn into home, netting him dozens of tickets The Taichung High Administrative Court has canceled all 45 tickets given to a man for failing to use a turn signal while driving, as it considered long-term surveillance of his privacy more problematic than the traffic violations. The man, surnamed Tseng (曾), lives in Changhua County and was reported 45 times within a month for failing to signal while driving when he turned into the alley where his residence is. The reports were filed by his neighbor, who set up security cameras that constantly monitored not only the alley but also the door and yard of Tseng’s house. The surveillance occurred from July
RSS