The historic visit of first lady Wu Shu-chen (
C.J. Chen (
"The significance of the visit is that she is a representative of the people, of the aspirations of the people of Taiwan, and she also represents the [progress] that Taiwan has made in the last few decades," Chen said.
"I think what is very important is that her visit is going to be very smooth, very successful, very useful," he said.
Large numbers of the national capital's pro-Taiwan elite are expected to flock to events put on in Wu's honor when she and her entourage will be in Washington from Sept. 22 to Sept. 26.
Some 250 members of Con-gress, think tank scholars, retired military officers and government officials and others are expected to attend a gala banquet in Wu's honor during the trip, arranged by the TECRO at Taiwan's historic mansion, Twin Oaks.
As many as 600 overseas Chinese community and business leaders are expected to attend another banquet hosted by the Chinese American community.
Wu will be feted by and address members of Congress at a Capitol Hill reception in the same room that Madame Chiang Kai-shek (蔣宋美齡) addressed Congress in 1943 during her historic visit to bolster US support for the ROC's fight against Japan.
The prominent conservative think tank, the American Enterprise Institute, will hold a reception for Wu which is expected to be attended by the cream of the China policy community in Washington.
Wu is scheduled to make a major address at the gathering, in which she will "share her experiences on Taiwan's journey from autocracy to democracy" the think tank said in its notice of the meeting.
There is a possibility that she will also make a public address while in Washington, but details are still being negotiated by TECRO and the State Department.
In addition, Wu will champion the cause of the disabled and disadvantaged by paying a visit to one of the US' premier rehabilitative medical facilities, the National Rehabilitation Hospital in downtown Washington.
She will also visit the national headquarters of the American Red Cross.
No meetings with government officials have been planned, but neither side has ruled them out. The State Department said only that "we do not anticipate" any such meetings, but would not go as far as saying none would be held. TECRO officials echoed the State Department position.
Both sides describe the trip as a private visit.
The idea for the trip came last summer, when C.J. Chen returned to Taiwan for his annual briefing, and suggested the DPP government start the wheels in motion for a US visit by the first lady.
The idea came at a time when some members of Congress and various Taiwanese officials were mooting the idea of a trip by President Chen Shui-bian (
As soon as Taiwan made the request, Washington was "very responsive," C.J. Chen said. The Americans he dealt with "all show great respect for [Wu]," he said.
Some 23 Taiwanese journalists are planning to accompany the Wu entourage.
The delegation will also visit New York and Los Angeles during its 11-day US visit.
RISK REMAINS: An official said that with the US presidential elections so close, it is unclear if China would hold war games or keep its reaction to angry words The Ministry of National Defense said it was “on alert” as it detected a Chinese aircraft carrier group to Taiwan’s south yesterday amid concerns in Taiwan about the possibility of a new round of Chinese war games. The ministry said in a statement that a Chinese navy group led by the carrier Liaoning had entered waters near the Bashi Channel, which connects the South China Sea and the Pacific Ocean and separates Taiwan from the Philippines. It said the carrier group was expected to enter the Western Pacific. The military is keeping a close watch on developments and “exercising an
FIVE-YEAR WINDOW? A defense institute CEO said a timeline for a potential Chinese invasion was based on expected ‘tough measures’ when Xi Jinping seeks a new term Most Taiwanese are willing to defend the nation against a Chinese attack, but the majority believe Beijing is unlikely to invade within the next five years, a poll showed yesterday. The poll carried out last month was commissioned by the Institute for National Defense and Security Research, a Taipei-based think tank, and released ahead of Double Ten National Day today, when President William Lai (賴清德) is to deliver a speech. China maintains a near-daily military presence around Taiwan and has held three rounds of war games in the past two years. CIA Director William Burns last year said that Chinese President Xi Jinping
RESILIENCE: Once the system is operational, there would be no need to worry about the risks posed by disasters or other emergencies on communication systems, an official said Taiwan would have 24-hour access to low Earth orbit satellites by the end of this month through service provided by Eutelsat OneWeb as part of the nation’s effort to enhance signal resilience, a Chunghwa Telecom Co (中華電信) official said yesterday. Earlier this year the Ministry of Digital Affairs, which partnered with Chunghwa Telecom on a two-year project to boost signal resilience throughout the nation, said it reached a milestone when it made contact with OneWeb’s satellites half of the time. It expects to have the capability to maintain constant contact with the satellites and have nationwide coverage by the end
REACTION TO LAI: A former US official said William Lai took a step toward stability with his National Day speech and the question was how Beijing would respond US Secretary of State Antony Blinken yesterday warned China against taking any “provocative” action on Taiwan after Beijing’s reaction to President William Lai’s (賴清德) speech on Double Ten National Day on Thursday. Blinken, speaking in Laos after an ASEAN East Asia Summit, called the speech by Lai, in which he vowed to “resist annexation,” a “regular exercise.” “China should not use it in any fashion as a pretext for provocative actions,” Blinken told reporters. “On the contrary, we want to reinforce — and many other countries want to reinforce — the imperative of preserving the status quo, and neither party taking any
RSS