President Chen Shui-bian (
The chartered plane carrying Chen will make refueling stops in Hawaii en route to Panama, where Chen will attend the inauguration ceremony of Panamanian president Martin Torrijos.
From Panama, Chen will fly to Belize for a less-than-24-hour visit, and then make a brief stop in Seattle before returning home early morning on Sept. 5.
Chen shortened his Central American tour by a day in order to return to oversee the nation's relief work in northern and central Taiwan, which was devastated by Typhoon Aere.
Because of the abbreviated schedule, he will not stay over in Hawaii or Seattle as originally planned.
Presidential Office Deputy Secretary-General James Huang (黃志芳) said that overall, "traveling on the plane will account for approximately 43 hours in the president's diplomatic trip, with a total amount of about 83 hours for refueling stops in Hawaii, Seattle and visiting two of the nation's diplomatic allies in Central America."
Chen is expected to rub shoulders with other foreign dignitaries, including US Secretary of State Colin Powell, while attending the inauguration in Panama.
During a brief stop in Hawaii, Chen will visit Pearl Harbor and the USS Arizona Memorial, which commemorates the sacrifice made by the 2,390 US soldiers who lost their lives in the December 7, 1941, Japanese surprise attack -- half of them from the battleship USS Arizona.
In Hawaii and Seattle, Chen will attend banquets to be held in his honor by expatriates, and will meet with US politicians.
Members of his entourage include Minister of Foreign Affairs Mark Chen (
Taoyuan County Commissioner and Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) member Chu Li-lun (
The Coast Guard Administration (CGA) yesterday said it had deployed patrol vessels to expel a China Coast Guard ship and a Chinese fishing boat near Pratas Island (Dongsha Island, 東沙群島) in the South China Sea. The China Coast Guard vessel was 28 nautical miles (52km) northeast of Pratas at 6:15am on Thursday, approaching the island’s restricted waters, which extend 24 nautical miles from its shoreline, the CGA’s Dongsha-Nansha Branch said in a statement. The Tainan, a 2,000-tonne cutter, was deployed by the CGA to shadow the Chinese ship, which left the area at 2:39pm on Friday, the statement said. At 6:31pm on Friday,
The Chinese People’s Liberation Army Navy’s (PLAN) third aircraft carrier, the Fujian, would pose a steep challenge to Taiwan’s ability to defend itself against a full-scale invasion, a defense expert said yesterday. Institute of National Defense and Security Research analyst Chieh Chung (揭仲) made the comment hours after the PLAN confirmed the carrier recently passed through the Taiwan Strait to conduct “scientific research tests and training missions” in the South China Sea. China has two carriers in operation — the Liaoning and the Shandong — with the Fujian undergoing sea trials. Although the PLAN needs time to train the Fujian’s air wing and
The American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) put Taiwan in danger, Ma Ying-jeou Foundation director Hsiao Hsu-tsen (蕭旭岑) said yesterday, hours after the de facto US embassy said that Beijing had misinterpreted World War II-era documents to isolate Taiwan. The AIT’s comments harmed the Republic of China’s (ROC) national interests and contradicted a part of the “six assurances” stipulating that the US would not change its official position on Taiwan’s sovereignty, Hsiao said. The “six assurances,” which were given by then-US president Ronald Reagan to Taiwan in 1982, say that Washington would not set a date for ending arm sales to Taiwan, consult
A Taiwanese academic yesterday said that Chinese Ambassador to Denmark Wang Xuefeng (王雪峰) disrespected Denmark and Japan when he earlier this year allegedly asked Japan’s embassy to make Taiwan’s representatives leave an event in Copenhagen. The Danish-language Berlingske on Sunday reported the incident in an article with the headline “The emperor’s birthday ended in drama in Copenhagen: More conflict may be on the way between Denmark and China.” It said that on Feb. 26, the Japanese embassy in Denmark held an event for Japanese Emperor Naruhito’s birthday, with about 200 guests in attendance, including representatives from Taiwan. After addressing the Japanese hosts, Wang