President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) plans to transit in the US en route to and from Honduras later this month will not be impacted by the ongoing controversy over Taiwan’s imports of US beef, a Los Angeles-based Taiwanese diplomat said on Saturday.
Kung Chung-cheng (龔中誠), representative of the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Los Angeles, said the US government would not link the beef dispute with Ma’s stopover on US soil.
Besides, Kung said, Washington knows that “even best friends have different points of view.”
“The US will not make unnecessary moves that hurt the bilateral friendship simply because of discrepancies on certain issues,” Kung said.
Kao Chih-chung (高志中), an official with Taiwan’s Overseas Compatriots Affairs Commission representing the state of Arizona, echoed Kung’s views, saying that US-Taiwan relations are not as fragile as some presume.
Washington knows Ma’s personality and the US government knows he is not an irrational politician playing to the gallery to harvest political gain, Kao said.
The US government will not brush aside Ma simply because of the beef controversy, he said.
“The US will observe normal diplomatic etiquette to accord a reception befitting a visitor of Ma’s status,” he said.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs said Ma is scheduled to make a whirlwind two day visit to Honduras, Taiwan’s diplomatic ally in Central America, on Jan. 27 mainly to attend the inauguration of president-elect Porfirio Lobo Sosa.
Ma and a small entourage will depart Taipei on Jan. 25 and make a one-day stopover in San Francisco before heading to the Honduran capital of Tegucigalpa.
During his stay in San Francisco, Ma is expected to have dinner with US-based Taiwanese expatriates and various local elected politicians, in addition to having telephone conversations with some “US friends” over issues of mutual concern, ministry officials said.
He is scheduled to return to Taipei on Jan. 30 after making a stopover in Los Angeles, where a dinner for 300 people is to be arranged, as well as a breakfast meeting with local political and business leaders.
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