Visiting leaders of Central American and Caribbean nations received first-class treatment on the opening day the Taiwan-Central American summit yesterday.
"The ministry put money and manpower into giving the visitors the best reception during their stay in Taiwan," said Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Richard Shih (石瑞琦).
The reception Shih referred to included five-star accommodation, genuine cuisine and an itinerary arranged for first ladies while their presidential husbands attended the one-day summit yesterday.
The biennial summit -- the fourth since it was started by former president Lee Teng-hui (
The reception mobilized almost every five-star hotel in downtown Taipei.
The Grand Hotel was responsible for receiving Panama President Mireya Elisa Moscoso, the only female president among the eight top-ranking conferees, and provided her with a personal assistant.
The Grand Hotel, with its long history, was also chosen to host a national banquet for the foreign guests last night with a routine menu preferred by President Chen Shui-bian (
The hotel's top four chefs presented delicacies made of locally grown avocado, bamboo shoots and taro.
The Grand Formosa Regent Hotel received Guatemalan President Alfonso Antonio Portillo and the Dominican representative and provided Spanish-speaking servants. It also replaced its coffee beans with ones grown in Guatemala based on Portillo's recommendation.
As for the Grand Hyatt Hotel, the host of yesterday's conference, all chefs were on 24-hour stand-by for preparatory work for the meeting.
It was also designated to host Costa Rican President Abel Pacheco and Belize Prime Minister Said W. Musa, whose favorite food includes peanuts.
The Westin Taipei welcomed El Salvador President Perez and his wife with a bundle of flowers, mostly lilies and bird of paradise flowers upon their arrival Wednesday.
The Caesar Park Hotel plans another national feast on Sunday for two foreign leaders -- the Guatemalan and Salvadoran presidents -- who plan to extend their visit in Taiwan until next week, with salted duck, roast lamb and tea jelly for dessert.
The diplomatic gala also included a coffee festival featuring an exhibition of Central American coffee beans. The festival took place at the plaza of the Shin Kong Mitsukoshi Department Store yesterday evening.
The leaders and their entourage appeared at the festival late last night.
Shih said the expense for accommodating the presidential visitors was covered by annual reception funds and was without "any additional borrowing from ministry or government budgets that are irrelevant to public relations."
The first ladies of the visiting dignitaries toured a glass art museum in suburban Taipei yesterday.
While their husbands were at the summit, the first ladies of Costa Rica and El Salvador and wives of senior leaders of Central American and Caribbean countries visited the Tittot Glass Art Museum in Peitou, founded by Heinrich Wang (王俠軍), a pioneer in Taiwan's glass art development.
Both Costa Rican first lady Leila Rodriguez and El Salvadoran first lady Lourdes Rodriguez de Flores said they were impressed by the glass art works on display.
The collection comprises masterpieces created by Wang and other local and foreign artists.
The visitors said they were particularly interested in many of Wang's works that feature traditional Buddhist artistic concepts. They also took a glimpse into glassmaking procedures at the Tittot workshop in the museum complex.
Other visitors included Joan Musa, wife of the Belize prime minister; Lila Maria Bolanos Chamorro, a granddaughter of the Nicaragua president; Maria Elena Marinakys de Diaz, wife of the Honduras vice president; and Lourdes Isabel Mejia de Grullon, wife of the secretary-general to the Dominican Republic president.
Taiwan would welcome the return of Honduras as a diplomatic ally if its next president decides to make such a move, Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said yesterday. “Of course, we would welcome Honduras if they want to restore diplomatic ties with Taiwan after their elections,” Lin said at a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee, when asked to comment on statements made by two of the three Honduran presidential candidates during the presidential campaign in the Central American country. Taiwan is paying close attention to the region as a whole in the wake of a
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫), spokeswoman Yang Chih-yu (楊智伃) and Legislator Hsieh Lung-chieh (謝龍介) would be summoned by police for questioning for leading an illegal assembly on Thursday evening last week, Minister of the Interior Liu Shyh-fang (劉世芳) said today. The three KMT officials led an assembly outside the Taipei City Prosecutors’ Office, a restricted area where public assembly is not allowed, protesting the questioning of several KMT staff and searches of KMT headquarters and offices in a recall petition forgery case. Chu, Yang and Hsieh are all suspected of contravening the Assembly and Parade Act (集會遊行法) by holding
PRAISE: Japanese visitor Takashi Kubota said the Taiwanese temple architecture images showcased in the AI Art Gallery were the most impressive displays he saw Taiwan does not have an official pavilion at the World Expo in Osaka, Japan, because of its diplomatic predicament, but the government-backed Tech World pavilion is drawing interest with its unique recreations of works by Taiwanese artists. The pavilion features an artificial intelligence (AI)-based art gallery showcasing works of famous Taiwanese artists from the Japanese colonial period using innovative technologies. Among its main simulated displays are Eastern gouache paintings by Chen Chin (陳進), Lin Yu-shan (林玉山) and Kuo Hsueh-hu (郭雪湖), who were the three young Taiwanese painters selected for the East Asian Painting exhibition in 1927. Gouache is a water-based
President William Lai (賴清德) has appointed former vice president Chen Chien-jen (陳建仁) to attend the late Pope Francis’ funeral at the Vatican City on Saturday on his behalf, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said today. The Holy See announced Francis’ funeral would take place on Saturday at 10am in St Peter’s Square. The ministry expressed condolences over Francis’ passing and said that Chen would represent Taiwan at the funeral and offer condolences in person. Taiwan and the Vatican have a long-standing and close diplomatic relationship, the ministry said. Both sides agreed to have Chen represent Taiwan at the funeral, given his Catholic identity and
RSS