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First lady bounces back in style in LA

Taiwan's first lady, Wu Shu-chen, shows off two Los Angeles Dodgers shirts she received from the nation's baseball superstar, Chen Chin-feng, at an evening banquet in LA on Friday night. Wu was admitted to hospital after feeling dizzy on her way to a Dodgers game to see Chen in action on Friday. PHOTO: LIU HSING-DER, TAIPEI TIMES

Still recovering from exhaustion, Taiwan first lady Wu Shu-jen (吳淑珍) Friday attended a dinner banquet with overseas Taiwanese in Los Angeles, saying that the former KMT government's decision to withdraw from the UN in 1971 was a crucial mistake, which resulted in Taiwan's current struggle to become a member of the global organization.

"If the government [under former President Chiang Kai-shek] had wisely chosen to stay in the UN, then we wouldn't have had to expend so much energy on trying to get back into the UN," Wu told the banquet guests.

"However, since Taiwan has joined the WTO," she said, "I believe that our country will eventually achieve its goal of reentering the UN and play a more important role in the international community."

The first lady then called on overseas Taiwanese to make use of their personal influence to help the American people know more about Taiwan and to win their friendship and support for Tai-wan's cause.

Some 1,200 overseas Taiwanese attended the dinner party to welcome the first lady in Los Angeles -- the third and final leg of her 11-day historic visit to the US.

Number one patriot * Wu had wanted to attend a Dodgers game on Friday morning to see Taiwan baseball superstar Chen Chin-feng in action for the LA Major League baseball team, but a bout of severe exhaustion forced her to cancel her plan. * She then took the remainder of the day off to rest and on Friday night she attended a banquet in her honor that was attended by 1,200 overseas Taiwanese. * She used the banquet to express her support for Chen Chin-feng and went on to call on all overseas Taiwanese to become active ambassadors of Taiwan.

The banquet was intended to show gratitude to the region's Taiwanese-American community, the largest in the US, which has raised US$1 million to help endow a new foundation promoting Taiwan's image in the US.

Also on hand at the dinner were Barbara Jane Schrage, acting managing director of the American Institute in Taiwan, and Chen Chien-jen (程建人), Taiwan's representative to the US.

Earlier Friday, Wu had to cancel her scheduled trips to the Getty Museum and the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library.

"Because of the long trip from Taiwan to Washington to New York to Los Angeles, she is a little bit exhausted," said James Huang (黃志芳), spokesman of Taiwan's Presidential Office.

The first lady arrived in Los Angeles on Thursday afternoon and had intended to attend a Dodgers baseball game Thursday night to honor one of the team's players, Chen Chin-feng (陳金鋒), the first Taiwanese player in US professional baseball's Major League.

Instead, she had to be taken to Cedars-Sinai Medical Center for a check-up and then to her hotel, where she was watched over by her own doctors, Huang said.

After taking a day off from a tight schedule of activities, Wu attended the party in a lively mood, beaming with smiles and waving her hands to salute those who were present.

Wu also used the occasion to make up for not showing up for Chen Chin-feng's baseball game. She specially demonstrated two Dodgers uniforms with Chen's number -- 52 -- and his signatures and expressed her encouragement toward the young baseball player.

Wu, 51, uses a wheelchair and was paralyzed from the waist down when a truck ran over her three times in 1985 during Taiwan's repressive martial era.

She and many others believe she was the victim of a botched assassination attempt by her husband's political rivals.

Her 11-day trip to the US capital started in Sept. 19 and marked the first time a Taiwan first lady made such a trip since Washington switched diplomatic recognition from Taipei to Beijing in 1979. It was also the first time Taiwan's first lady had visited the US in nearly half a century.

She is scheduled to return to Taiwan tomorrow night.

Meanwhile, a senior US State Department official congratulated Wu for her successful visit to the US, according to her spokesman, James Huang.

Huang, who is accompanying Wu on the visit, revealed that James Kelly, the US Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs, made a telephone call to the first lady shortly after she arrived in Los Angeles Thursday afternoon.

He reportedly extended his regards and congratulations to Wu.

According to Huang, Kelly told Wu that he made the call for two reasons, the first reason being that he was aware of the fatigue she was experiencing -- and the second reason was to congratulate her for her successful visit to the US.
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