Justice minister heads home

Minister of Justice Chen Ding-nan (陳定南) left Los Angeles yesterday to return home after a nine-day visit to the US. Chen was the first justice minister to visit Washington in 23 years. He met with his US counterpart, Attorney General John Ashcroft, last Friday for 40 minutes. He also visited the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and other government agencies. Chen told his hosts that Taipei will continue to cooperate with Washington on fighting crime. Taiwan's government will also firmly enforce the Mutual Legal Assistance Agreement on Criminal Matters -- which was signed between the two nations in March.