Former US president George W. Bush will not visit Taiwan this month because of his tight schedule during an upcoming tour of Asia, an official at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs confirmed yesterday.
Despite the setback, the official said the ministry would continue in its efforts to secure a visit from the former US president, who left office last year.
The official denied that a media report publicizing Bush’s visit had led to a volte-face on a mooted visit later this month.
Instead, the issue was said to be Bush’s tight itinerary and the fact that he might have to rush back to the US after his trip to Asia.
Last week, the Chinese-language Next Magazine reported that Bush had accepted an invitation from Jason Yuan (袁健生), Taiwan’s representative in the US, to visit Taiwan later this month.
At that time, Minister of Foreign Affairs Timothy Yang (楊進添) said he could not confirm the reported visit by Bush as the invitation was only in the initial stages.
The official yesterday said that inviting prominent US politicians to Taiwan remained one of the ministry’s responsibilities, but that getting them to come was difficult because their busy schedules are often set well in advance.
The Taiwan Foundation for Democracy successfully invited former US president Bill Clinton, after he left the White House in January 2001, to visit Taiwan in February 2005.
During his visit, Clinton delivered a keynote speech on democracy in Asia.
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