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Ma stopover in the US ‘likely’

President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) is likely to make transit stops in the US on his way to and from the country’s diplomatic allies in Latin America next month, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said yesterday.

Ministry spokesman Henry Chen (陳銘政) said that if Ma visited Paraguay and the Dominican Republic in the middle of next month to attend the inaugurations of the two countries’ new presidents, the ministry would make arrangements for the president to make stopovers on US soil.

“The ministry is ready to make arrangements for President Ma’s trip if he decides to go. But so far, we haven’t heard anything from the Presidential Office,” Chen said yesterday when asked about Ma’s plans.

A high-ranking ministry official said the ministry was ready to make arrangements for a stopover in a city along the US west coast as Ma travels to Paraguay before the Aug. 15 inauguration of president-elect Fernando Lugo and another layover in a city on the east coast on his way back from the Dominican Republic after the Aug. 16 inauguration of its new president.

“The president’s visits to the United States will be low-profile and will be purely travel stopovers,” the official said.

Another government source, who wished to remain anonymous, said Ma had tentatively planned to leave Taiwan on Aug. 12 for a nine-day visit by way of the US.

The foreign ministry was seeking US agreement for Ma to transit through New York and that if that was impossible, Ma could make stopovers in Los Angeles and San Francisco on his way to and back from Latin America, the source said.

The source did not rule out the possibility that Ma could visit other Latin American allies during his trip.

The ministry would follow protocol established during the terms of former president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) by asking officials at the National Security Bureau and the airline that would transport the president to make practice trips to and from Latin America later this month to ensure safety and security for the president, the official said.

This would be Ma’s first overseas visit since his inauguration on May 20.

Additional reporting by Loa Iok-sin
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