Former vice president Wu Den-yih’s (吳敦義) application to travel to the US later this month has been approved, the Presidential Office said yesterday.
Wu was invited to attend the annual meeting of the Taiwan Benevolent Association of America in Boston from Sept. 23 to Sept. 25. Wu is to give a keynote speech at the meeting on Sept. 24.
Presidential Office spokesman Alex Huang (黃重諺) said that Wu’s application had been screened based on the Classified National Security Information Protection Act (國家機密保護法) and regulations regarding control of personnel involved with classified information leaving the country.
Huang said that a task force assigned to review Wu’s application met on Aug. 22 and again on Monday. It has notified Wu’s office of the approval of his visit.
Wu will leave for the US on Sept. 20 and return on Oct. 6.
Huang also explained why Wu’s application was approved, while former president Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) request to visit Hong Kong was rejected.
Huang said the purpose of Wu’s visit to the US is to meet with Taiwanese expatriates, which is different from Ma’s visit “in nature.”
“Political sensitivities and risks involving national security are within a controllable range,” Huang said.
Ma applied for permission to visit Hong Kong to deliver a speech at an award ceremony and dinner to be hosted by the Society of Publishers in Asia on June 15.
The application was rejected on the grounds that Ma had access to huge volumes of classified national security information as president and that it was less than one month since he had left office.
The task force assigned to review the application also took into consideration the difficulty involved in controlling the risks of a former president visiting Hong Kong, which is a highly sensitive area in terms of Taiwan’s national security, a government spokesman said.
In addition, the National Security Bureau has no experience cooperating with its Hong Kong counterpart and there was not enough time to coordinate with other authorities in Hong Kong or mainland China, the spokesman said.
Under the Classified National Security Information Protection Act (國家機密保護法) that was introduced in 2003, former presidents, premiers and ministers with classified status are required to gain government approval for overseas travel up to three years after leaving office.
Wu’s office said the former vice president was happy to hear that the Presidential Office has approved the trip, which will be Wu’s first overseas visit since stepping down on May 20.
The office said that Wu will also visit Los Angeles and Houston to meet old friends, instead of taking part in official activities.
Wu’s wife will accompany him on the visit, the office said.
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