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Media speculates about stopovers
GUESSING GAME:
Some reports said the president would stop in the Philippines, others said it would be Guam, but the Presidential Office would not say much either way
By Ko Shu-ling
STAFF REPORTER
Thursday, Aug 31, 2006, Page 3
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Minister of Foreign Affairs James Huang, right, yesterday sidesteps questions from the media in the Presidential Office about whether the US government had refused President Chen Shui-bian's request to make a stopover in Guam.
PHOTO: WANG MIN-WEI, TAIPEI TIMES
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The Presidential Office yesterday dismissed media speculation that President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) will make a stopover in the Philippines en route to the South Pacific.
"The speculation is false," Presidential Office Spokesman David Lee (李南陽) told the Taipei Times yesterday.
The Chinese-language United Evening News reported yesterday that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs had reached an agreement with the Philippine government that would allow Chen's "Air Force One" to make a brief stopover.
The report also quoted ministry personnel as saying that negotiations with the US government over a proposed stopover in Guam were proceeding smoothly.
However, Lee yesterday remained tight-lipped about a possible transit in Guam, saying that details of the trip would be made available today.
Chen is scheduled to leave for a three-day state visit to Palau and Nauru on Sunday. He will attend a summit with the nation's six Pacific island allies in Palau and is scheduled to deliver a speech to Nauru's parliament.
Local media had previously reported that Chen was likely to make a transit stop in Guam before returning to Taipei. Newspapers yesterday, however, carried contradictory reports about a Guam stop.
The Liberty Times (the Taipei Times' sister newspaper) quoted sources in the US as saying that the Bush administration had agreed to allow Chen to make a transit stop in Guam, but was still negotiating over the details.
However, the United Daily News ran a front-page story claiming that the US government had rejected Chen's application for a Guam stopover.
In other developments, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Chiu Yi (邱毅) yesterday accused Chen of using a state fund, which is supposed to be used for national affairs, to buy luxury watches for himself and his son.
Chiu's accusation was based on a report in Next Magazine, a Chinese-language weekly.
The Presidential Office issued a press release denying the accusation, saying that Chen has not ruled out the possibility of filing a lawsuit against Chiu and the weekly.
Additional reporting by Shih Hsiu-chuan
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