While government officials considered Morris Chang's (
Because of China's diplomatic blockade, APEC is one of the few international organizations that Taiwan is able to participate in. However, since 1991, when Taiwan entered the economic forum using the name "Chinese Taipei," APEC has never allowed Taiwanese presidents to attend the leaders' summit. Therefore, how the president's envoy performs at the forum with the other heads of state becomes a focus from Taiwan's perspective.
This year, the president selected Chang, chairman of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co, to serve as his proxy, a choice described by Foreign Minister James Huang (黃志芳) and other officials in charge of Taiwan's APEC participation as "creative and brilliant."
Although Chang had never previously been involved in political affairs, his performance at the two-day leaders' summit was impressive judging from his frequent and active interactions with US President George W. Bush and Chinese President Hu Jintao (胡錦濤).
But Sophie Chang's performance all but matched that of her husband during the summit as she enjoyed close interaction with Laura Bush and the spouses of other leaders at the events APEC arranged for them.
Viewing her trip to APEC as a diplomatic mission, Sophie Chang told reporters that she had done a lot of homework and research on the various spouses and made notes on their personal background to take with her.
"Since I viewed this trip as a task, I tried to perform it perfectly," Sophie Chang said.
Sophie Chang, 62, speaks fluent English, since she studied in the US after finishing senior high school in Taiwan. Thanks to her linguistic ability, she was able to chat with the other spouses without the need of a translator, shortening the distance between them.
In order to highlight Taiwan's features, she also wore colorful cheongsams by Taiwanese designers, and her elegant and cordial attitude won praise from all corners.
Knowing that the relationship with the US is an important one for Taiwan, Sophie Chang spent much of her time finding common topics to discuss with US first lady Laura Bush. She discovered that both their daughters are living in New York and working as volunteers at a non-profit group that promotes Laura Bush's "First Book" project.
Laura Bush has been promoting the project, which aims to give children from low-income families the opportunity to read and own brand new books, in the US.
Sophie Chang showed her an e-mail written by her daughter, and Laura wrote "with thanks to First Book" on it as a gift to Chang's daughter.
Sophie Chang even suggested that Taiwan could provide the organization with Chinese books for language learners since she believes Mandarin will become a major world language in the future. Laura Bush welcomed the idea and suggested they "could do that together."
Meanwhile, Sophie Chang also took time out to socialize with the Chinese president's wife, the wife of Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and Russian President Vladimir Putin's wife. They were all extremely friendly, she said.
Reviewing the trip, Sophie Chang stressed that she acted like herself and did not pretend to be another person.
"Being myself and being natural was the key to getting along with the other spouses," she said. "The visit was an honor and also a duty for me, I'm so glad that I could make it."
‘DENIAL DEFENSE’: The US would increase its military presence with uncrewed ships, and submarines, while boosting defense in the Indo-Pacific, a Pete Hegseth memo said The US is reorienting its military strategy to focus primarily on deterring a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan, a memo signed by US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth showed. The memo also called on Taiwan to increase its defense spending. The document, known as the “Interim National Defense Strategic Guidance,” was distributed this month and detailed the national defense plans of US President Donald Trump’s administration, an article in the Washington Post said on Saturday. It outlines how the US can prepare for a potential war with China and defend itself from threats in the “near abroad,” including Greenland and the Panama
A wild live dugong was found in Taiwan for the first time in 88 years, after it was accidentally caught by a fisher’s net on Tuesday in Yilan County’s Fenniaolin (粉鳥林). This is the first sighting of the species in Taiwan since 1937, having already been considered “extinct” in the country and considered as “vulnerable” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. A fisher surnamed Chen (陳) went to Fenniaolin to collect the fish in his netting, but instead caught a 3m long, 500kg dugong. The fisher released the animal back into the wild, not realizing it was an endangered species at
The High Prosecutors’ Office yesterday withdrew an appeal against the acquittal of a former bank manager 22 years after his death, marking Taiwan’s first instance of prosecutors rendering posthumous justice to a wrongfully convicted defendant. Chu Ching-en (諸慶恩) — formerly a manager at the Taipei branch of BNP Paribas — was in 1999 accused by Weng Mao-chung (翁茂鍾), then-president of Chia Her Industrial Co, of forging a request for a fixed deposit of US$10 million by I-Hwa Industrial Co, a subsidiary of Chia Her, which was used as collateral. Chu was ruled not guilty in the first trial, but was found guilty
DEADLOCK: As the commission is unable to forum a quorum to review license renewal applications, the channel operators are not at fault and can air past their license date The National Communications Commission (NCC) yesterday said that the Public Television Service (PTS) and 36 other television and radio broadcasters could continue airing, despite the commission’s inability to meet a quorum to review their license renewal applications. The licenses of PTS and the other channels are set to expire between this month and June. The National Communications Commission Organization Act (國家通訊傳播委員會組織法) stipulates that the commission must meet the mandated quorum of four to hold a valid meeting. The seven-member commission currently has only three commissioners. “We have informed the channel operators of the progress we have made in reviewing their license renewal applications, and
RSS