Former Mexican president Vin-cente Fox has decided not to join the first Global Forum on New Democracies to protect the interests of the Mexican government, which is involved in anti-shoe dumping negotiations with Beijing, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said last night.
The forum begins today in Taipei.
The ministry said Fox canceled his speaking engagement at the last minute, at the strong recommendation of his government.
Former Bulgarian president Zhelyu Zhelev, who also appeared on the list of participants, also canceled because of heavy fog at Sofia airport. Former Romanian president Emil Constantinescu will deliver his remarks on his behalf.
President Chen Shui-bian (
Chen said Taiwan had to take precautions given that most of the participants were former leaders of countries with no diplomatic relations with Taiwan.
"At such a difficult moment, I would like to thank all the participating leaders for their support and encouragement for Taiwan. These friends have deeply touched Taiwan and made the country feel especially welcome on the path of democracy," Chen wrote in the latest issue of his online newsletter.
The list of participants, released on Wednesday by the Taiwan Foundation for Democracy, the organizer of the event, includes: Constantinescu, former El Salvadoran president Francisco Guillermo Florez Perez, former Polish president Lech Walesa, former South African president Frederik Willem de Klerk and former South Korean president Kim Young-sam.
The former leaders are expected to join Chen in discussing the achievements and challenges of new democracies, including the choice of a constitutional system, party politics, transitional justice and civil society. They are also expected to sign a joint declaration at the conclusion of the event.
ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY JENNY W. HSU
Actress Barbie Hsu (徐熙媛) has “returned home” to Taiwan, and there are no plans to hold a funeral for the TV star who died in Japan from influenza- induced pneumonia, her family said in a statement Wednesday night. The statement was released after local media outlets reported that Barbie Hsu’s ashes were brought back Taiwan on board a private jet, which arrived at Taipei Songshan Airport around 3 p.m. on Wednesday. To the reporters waiting at the airport, the statement issued by the family read “(we) appreciate friends working in the media for waiting in the cold weather.” “She has safely returned home.
A Vietnamese migrant worker on Thursday won the NT$12 million (US$383,590) jackpot on a scratch-off lottery ticket she bought from a lottery shop in Changhua County’s Puyan Township (埔鹽), Taiwan Lottery Co said yesterday. The lottery winner, who is in her 30s and married, said she would continue to work in Taiwan and send her winnings to her family in Vietnam to improve their life. More Taiwanese and migrant workers have flocked to the lottery shop on Sec 2 of Jhangshuei Road (彰水路) to share in the luck. The shop owner, surnamed Chen (陳), said that his shop has been open for just
Global bodies should stop excluding Taiwan for political reasons, President William Lai (賴清德) told Pope Francis in a letter, adding that he agrees war has no winners. The Vatican is one of only 12 countries to retain formal diplomatic ties with Taiwan, and Taipei has watched with concern efforts by Beijing and the Holy See to improve ties. In October, the Vatican and China extended an accord on the appointment of Catholic bishops in China for four years, pointing to a new level of trust between the two parties. Lai, writing to the pope in response to the pontiff’s message on Jan. 1’s
MUST REMAIN FREE: A Chinese takeover of Taiwan would lead to a global conflict, and if the nation blows up, the world’s factories would fall in a week, a minister said Taiwan is like Prague in 1938 facing Adolf Hitler; only if Taiwan remains free and democratic would the world be safe, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Francois Wu (吳志中) said in an interview with Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera. The ministry on Saturday said Corriere della Sera is one of Italy’s oldest and most read newspapers, frequently covers European economic and political issues, and that Wu agreed to an interview with the paper’s senior political analyst Massimo Franco in Taipei on Jan. 3. The interview was published on Jan. 26 with the title “Taiwan like Prague in 1938 with Hitler,” the ministry