President Chen Shui-bian (
Chen made the remarks while meeting with Roch Marc Christian Kabore, speaker of the Burkina Faso parliament, who is currently on an official visit in Taipei.
The president told his guest that if an opportunity presents itself, he would like to visit Burkina Faso again late this year. Chen visited the West African nation in August 2000.
well travelled
If the visit takes place, Chen will become the first president from Taiwan ever to make four overseas trips in a single year.
Chen visited Palau and the Solomon Islands in January and is scheduled to visit other South Pacific island nations, including the Marshall Islands, Kiribati and Tuvalu, between late next month and early May.
Chen also plans to travel to Latin America in August or September to attend a summit meeting with leaders of Central and South American diplomatic allies.
advance team
In preparation for Chen's second South Pacific diplomatic tour, an advance team composed of officials from the Presidential Office, the Government Information Office and the National Security Bureau, will leave for the Marshall Islands, Kiribati and Tuvalu today to look into hotel capacity, airport facilities and other details.
Presidential Office staff said the itinerary of Chen's South Pacific visit will be fleshed out after the advance team completes its inspection tour.
Taiwan is to receive the first batch of Lockheed Martin F-16 Block 70 jets from the US late this month, a defense official said yesterday, after a year-long delay due to a logjam in US arms deliveries. Completing the NT$247.2 billion (US$7.69 billion) arms deal for 66 jets would make Taiwan the third nation in the world to receive factory-fresh advanced fighter jets of the same make and model, following Bahrain and Slovakia, the official said on condition of anonymity. F-16 Block 70/72 are newly manufactured F-16 jets built by Lockheed Martin to the standards of the F-16V upgrade package. Republic of China
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