The government is working hard to secure agreement on a visit to Taiwan by former US president George W. Bush, Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) Spokesman Henry Chen (陳銘政) said yesterday.
“The MOFA seeks to extend invitations to US officials at all levels, incumbent or retired, including [former president] Bush, but we are still in the process of working out the details of [Bush's] itinerary,” Chen said.
Chen's comments came after yesterday's Chinese-language Next Magazine reported that Bush was likely to visit Taiwan late this month.
The report said President Ma Ying-jeou's (馬英九) government began arranging the visit earlier this year after first ensuring China was not opposed to the plan.
It said that the visit would be termed an “academic” one to avoid any controversy.
The report said that Bush has agreed to visit, but Chen yesterday said, “it is not finalized.”
Later yesterday when approached by reporters at Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) headquarters, MOFA Minister Timothy Yang (楊進添) remained guarded, saying that inviting Bush to Taiwan was “just a thought that has not yet materialized.”
Yang also declined to comment on whether Jason Yuan (袁健生), the nation's representative in the US, had brought up the idea with Bush, saying that he did not have that information.
Asked for a comment over the telephone, former representative to the US Joseph Wu (吳釗燮), now a research fellow at National Chengchi University's Institute of International Relations, said that Bush should be welcomed to Taiwan as it was during his presidency that Taiwan saw rapid development in its relations with the US.
Despite turbulence in relations during the last few years of former president Chen Shui-bian's (陳水扁) term, the contribution made by Bush to maintaining Taiwan's national security “deserves praise,” said Wu, referring to arms sales that Bush approved.
Wu said that he hoped Bush would draw attention to the pro-China stance in Ma's handlings of cross-strait relations when in Taiwan, as he is fully aware that China remains a serious menace to Taiwan and the whole world.
Wu said he hoped Bush, who has repeatedly praised Taiwan's democracy, would note the “political prosecutions” of former DPP officials, saying he should not keep silent on judicial impartiality given the extent to which the ongoing cases had undermined democracy and freedom in the country.
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