Published: May 12, 2006
By: Shih Ying-ying
Source: Taiwan Journal
The airplane carrying President Chen Shui-bian and his entourage, who were on their way back from a visit to Paraguay and Costa Rica, made a two-hour refueling stop in Taiwan's Caribbean ally the Dominican Republic before making an unscheduled stopover May 10 in the Libyan capital Tripoli.
Chen and his entourage were in Tripoli for a four-hour visit at the invitation of Libyan authorities. This was Chen's first visit to the oil-rich North African country which does not maintain diplomatic ties with Taiwan.
On May 5, Chen arrived in Paraguay, the Republic of China's only diplomatic ally in South America, for a three-day state visit. After a 37-hour flight that took him to Abu Dhabi and Amsterdam for refueling, Chen received a red-carpet welcome complete with full military honors upon arrival at the Asuncion airport.
In a speech to Paraguay's parliament, Chen announced that Taiwan would double the annual quota on Paraguayan beef imports from 220 tons to 440 tons, starting this year.
Chen also expressed his hope that Taiwan and Paraguay could enhance educational and cultural exchanges. He pointed out that 42 Paraguayan students have studied in Taiwan under a scholarship program offered by the ROC government, adding that by 2008, it is expected that there will be 100 Paraguayan students studying in Taiwan each year.
Chen and Paraguayan President Nicanor Duarte Frutos signed May 6 a joint communique to reaffirm their commitment to strengthening bilateral cooperation in a variety of fields.
The communique signals the administration's attention to help Paraguay increase its exports to Taiwan. The two countries also agreed to work out a joint plan to boost bilateral trade and economic cooperation. In the communique, Duarte reaffirmed his country's support for Taiwan's bids to join major international organizations, including the United Nations and the World Health Organization.
Chen and Duarte vowed to promote international cooperation and expressed their common belief that democracy is the way to stability, peace and development. The presidents condemned international terrorism and drug trafficking, and promised that their countries would work together to fight cross-border crime.
Earlier in the day, Chen and Duarte presided over the opening of a housing complex for poor people in Coronel Oviedo, Duarte's hometown. The complex was paid for with funding from Taiwan.
Over the past several years, the ROC government has donated funds in support of Duarte's project to build homes for the poor. So far, some 3,000 housing units have been built and more than 10,000 Paraguayan citizens have moved in.
In a speech at the opening, Duarte invited Taiwan to cooperate with Paraguay to explore for oil and natural gas in his country, which is believed to possess rich reserves of billions of barrels.
Duarte said the drilling is a task that requires a huge investment of capital, adding that he hoped the two nations could pool their resources to undertake such an exploration, and together profit from the oil extraction.
Addressing the Paraguayan media May 7, Chen explained the operation of the ROC government's Rong Bang program, which is a special aid program aimed at helping Taiwan's Latin American allies develop economically through joint investment projects with Taiwanese firms. More broadly, it is an attempt to neutralize China's rapidly growing influence in the region.
Chen told the press that his administration had earmarked US$250 million to encourage Taiwanese business interests to invest in such areas as agriculture, oil exploration and power generation in its 12 diplomatic allies in Latin America and the Caribbean.
Chen left Paraguay on the morning of May 7 for San Jose, Costa Rica for the second leg of his two-nation Latin American visit. After his arrival in San Jose in the afternoon of the same day, Chen held talks with outgoing Costa Rican President Abel Pacheco de la Espriella on matters of mutual concern. Pacheco also hosted a dinner in honor of Chen and his entourage.
The main purpose for Chen's visit to Costa Rica was to attend the May 8 inauguration of President-elect Oscar Arias. Representing the United States at the occasion was First Lady Laura Bush. Chen and Bush exchanged brief greetings at the ceremony. That same day, Chen met with six U.S. congressmen, Reps. Gregory Meeks, Diane Watson, Kenny Marchant, Madeleine Bordallo, Todd Akin and Dan Burton, vice chairman of the Subcommittee on Asia and the Pacific of the House International Relations Committee.
Ahead of the inauguration ceremony, Chen met with several of his Latin American counterparts in his hotel room in the Costa Rican capital May 7. He had one-on-one meetings with Guatemalan President Oscar Berger, Haiti's Acting President Boniface Alexandre, Nicaraguan President Enrique Bolanos, Salvadoran President Elias Antonio Saca and Panamanian President Martin Torrijos.
These meetings were held mainly to exchange views on free trade agreements (FTAs) between the ROC and diplomatic allies in the region. An FTA between Taiwan and Guatemala, concluded last September, has already been signed, although before it goes into effect, it has to be ratified by the two countries' parliaments.
All of the heads of state reiterated their support for Taiwan in its bid to take part in major international organizations, including the World Health Organization. Meanwhile, Chen assured the leaders that the Rong Bang project that he announced during his Latin American trip in 2005 remains in place and has received a favorable response from Taiwanese business interests.
On previous trips to the region, Chen made transit stops in the United States, taking time in such U.S. cities as New York, Los Angeles and Houston to meet with government officials and give speeches to members of the Taiwanese emigre community.
On this, his fifth trip to Latin America as president, Chen had hoped to arrange a layover in either New York, Miami or San Francisco, and continue his efforts to raise Taiwan's international profile while passing through the United States. However, Washington denied this request, agreeing only to Anchorage, Alaska as a refueling stop.
Displeased with what has been perceived in Taiwan as a diplomatic snub, Chen dropped his Anchorage stopover plan at the 11th hour and opted instead for a stopover in Beirut. Due to pressure from Beijing, the Beirut stopover was later aborted in favor of Abu Dhabi and refueling in Amsterdam.
|