President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) was given red-carpet treatment on his arrival in Alaska yesterday as his new-found freedom in the US continued.
After flying from Panama, where he attended the country's 100th anniversary celebrations, Chen was greeted in Anchorage by Taiwan's representative to the US, Chen Chien-jen (程建人), American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) Chairwoman Therese Shaheen, Alaska Governor Frank Murkowski, Alaskan House Speaker Pete Kott and overseas Taiwanese representatives.
Murkowski arranged for Chen to give a public speech on his arrival, an unusual privilege for a visiting Taiwanese president on a stopover visit in the US.
"Chairwoman Shaheen has witnessed this occasion and I hope the AIT can continue with their efforts," Chen said in response to the warm welcome. "Why is it that Alaska can but New York can't?"
When former president Lee Teng-hui (李登輝) returned to his alma mater, Cornell University, to give a speech in 1995, he also made a stopover in Alaska. But he was confined to his hotel and prohibited from engaging in any public activities.
Chen has enjoyed unprecedented exposure during his seven-day trip, beginning with a transit stop in New York last Friday.
Congressmen greeted him at the airport and he gave a 30-minute public speech when he accepted a human rights award. He was allowed to freely talk to the media and went on a cruise in New York harbor with 500 Taiwanese expatriates.
Chen expressed his appreciation for the way the US had treated him and emphasized that the US government had consented to all his activities.
Nevertheless, the public reception in Anchorage was a unexpected bonus. Chen found out about it only after he had taken off from Panama when Murkowski's office contacted Chen's aides.
In a speech during a banquet hosted by Taiwanese expatriates in Alaska, Shaheen said that Taiwan's economic performance had surprised the international community. She said it would be more appropriate for the so-called Greater China economy to be called the Greater Taiwan economy.
Her 20 years of experience as a businesswoman suggested that if Taiwan cooperated with China economically, the two sides could create a win-win situation, she said.
She said Taiwan had contributed a lot to the world in terms of promoting human rights and fighting terror and the world should value Taiwan more. Alaska understood this and was acting as a bridge between Taiwan and the world, she said.
Chen, comparing the current situation with the one that Lee encountered, said that the changes over the past eight years were a result of many things and people, including the US government, Murkowski and the improvement in Taiwan-US relations. He said that President George W. Bush was Taiwan's "guardian angel."
Chen said that he was quite satisfied with his trip and that its success was the achievement of all 23 million people in Taiwan.
Chen will arrive in Taiwan at 6pm tonight after going on a sightseeing trip around Alaska.
In contrast to the high-profile reception Chen received in Alaska, his return to Taiwan will likely be a low-key affair.
Presidential Secretary General Chiou I-jen (邱義仁) yesterday urged government officials, legislators and Democratic Progressive Party supporters not to arrange a welcoming party for Chen at CKS International Airport.
During his stopover in New York, Chen met one of President Bush's brothers at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel, according to a source from an overseas Taiwanese association.
However, the Presidential Office refused to confirm the information and did not want to make any comment.
(additional reporting by Chang Yun-ping)
AIR SUPPORT: The Ministry of National Defense thanked the US for the delivery, adding that it was an indicator of the White House’s commitment to the Taiwan Relations Act Deputy Minister of National Defense Po Horng-huei (柏鴻輝) and Representative to the US Alexander Yui on Friday attended a delivery ceremony for the first of Taiwan’s long-awaited 66 F-16C/D Block 70 jets at a Lockheed Martin Corp factory in Greenville, South Carolina. “We are so proud to be the global home of the F-16 and to support Taiwan’s air defense capabilities,” US Representative William Timmons wrote on X, alongside a photograph of Taiwanese and US officials at the event. The F-16C/D Block 70 jets Taiwan ordered have the same capabilities as aircraft that had been upgraded to F-16Vs. The batch of Lockheed Martin
GRIDLOCK: The National Fire Agency’s Special Search and Rescue team is on standby to travel to the countries to help out with the rescue effort A powerful earthquake rocked Myanmar and neighboring Thailand yesterday, killing at least three people in Bangkok and burying dozens when a high-rise building under construction collapsed. Footage shared on social media from Myanmar’s second-largest city showed widespread destruction, raising fears that many were trapped under the rubble or killed. The magnitude 7.7 earthquake, with an epicenter near Mandalay in Myanmar, struck at midday and was followed by a strong magnitude 6.4 aftershock. The extent of death, injury and destruction — especially in Myanmar, which is embroiled in a civil war and where information is tightly controlled at the best of times —
Taiwan was ranked the fourth-safest country in the world with a score of 82.9, trailing only Andorra, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar in Numbeo’s Safety Index by Country report. Taiwan’s score improved by 0.1 points compared with last year’s mid-year report, which had Taiwan fourth with a score of 82.8. However, both scores were lower than in last year’s first review, when Taiwan scored 83.3, and are a long way from when Taiwan was named the second-safest country in the world in 2021, scoring 84.8. Taiwan ranked higher than Singapore in ninth with a score of 77.4 and Japan in 10th with
SECURITY RISK: If there is a conflict between China and Taiwan, ‘there would likely be significant consequences to global economic and security interests,’ it said China remains the top military and cyber threat to the US and continues to make progress on capabilities to seize Taiwan, a report by US intelligence agencies said on Tuesday. The report provides an overview of the “collective insights” of top US intelligence agencies about the security threats to the US posed by foreign nations and criminal organizations. In its Annual Threat Assessment, the agencies divided threats facing the US into two broad categories, “nonstate transnational criminals and terrorists” and “major state actors,” with China, Russia, Iran and North Korea named. Of those countries, “China presents the most comprehensive and robust military threat