While President Chen Shui-bian (
Mark Chen said that he approached Powell, who was attending the event on behalf of US President George W. Bush, when he saw the secretary in the room.
"I introduced myself as the foreign minister from Taiwan, and expressed gratitude [to Powell] for the US' assistance to Taiwan, such as supporting the nation's bid to join the World Health Assembly (WHA)," said the foreign minister. "The exchange was brief, however, because Powell was busy, as there were other dignitaries from other countries surrounding him."
The foreign minister added that he wanted to find the president, but didn't know where he was at the time.
Mark Chen said that the president might have had a chance of running into Powell at the state banquet following the inauguration ceremony, if the US Secretary of State hadn't had to leave so soon.
Powell didn't stay for the banquet, but left shortly after the conclusion of the inauguration ceremony.
Chen and his entourage were in Panama to attend the inauguration of Panamanian President Martin Torrijos.
Whether or not Chen would get a chance to meet and interact with US Secretary of State Colin Powell was closely followed by Taiwan media.
During his visit to Panama to attend the Central American country's centenary celebrations, Chen had a chance to exchange pleasantries and shake hands -- twice -- with US Secretary of State Colin Powell. The exchange was the most senior-level encounter between the two countries' officials since 1979, when the US severed diplomatic ties with Taiwan.
During the inauguration ceremony, which was two hours longer than was original scheduled, Chen was placed between Haitian President Boniface Alexandre and Colombian President Alvaro Uribe Velez.
Presidential Deputy Secretary-General James Huang (黃志芳), who also accompanied Chen on the diplomatic trip to Panama, told reporters that Chen was seated between Honduran President Ricardo Maduro and Spanish Crown Prince Felipe's wife, Letizia Ortiz, during the state banquet. Sitting across from Chen was the wife of Panamanian President Martin Torrijos.
Huang said Chen exchanged pleasantries with the other guests, and that he had extended an invitation to the recently married Ortiz to visit Taiwan on her honeymoon.
Saying that she would love to visit Taiwan, Ortiz added that "the travel itinerary must not be public, because [she] is afraid of paparazzi," Huang said.
Later that night Chen took part in a banquet hosted by expatriates held in his honor.
Aside from the expatriates, more than 70 devoted fans of "A-bian" -- as Chen is often referred to -- flew in from places such as New York, Houston, San Francisco and Guatemala to join Chen during the banquet.
Chen told the audience that in order to return to Taiwan for the nation's relief work in northern and central Taiwan, which was devastated by Typhoon Aere, he needed to maintain a jam-packed schedule and itinerary during his Central American visit.
The trip was delayed for a day and shorted by a day.
"The trip is being abbreviated not because we want to save money from staying at hotels or taking showers," Chen said, adding that his hectic schedule on his inauguration day was less busy than the trip he currently embarked on.
"But this is the way we have to do it to work for our diplomatic affairs," said the president.
Also see story:
ENDEAVOR MANTA: The ship is programmed to automatically return to its designated home port and would self-destruct if seized by another party The Endeavor Manta, Taiwan’s first military-specification uncrewed surface vehicle (USV) tailor-made to operate in the Taiwan Strait in a bid to bolster the nation’s asymmetric combat capabilities made its first appearance at Kaohsiung’s Singda Harbor yesterday. Taking inspiration from Ukraine’s navy, which is using USVs to force Russia’s Black Sea fleet to take shelter within its own ports, CSBC Taiwan (台灣國際造船) established a research and development unit on USVs last year, CSBC chairman Huang Cheng-hung (黃正弘) said. With the exception of the satellite guidance system and the outboard motors — which were purchased from foreign companies that were not affiliated with Chinese-funded
PERMIT REVOKED: The influencer at a news conference said the National Immigration Agency was infringing on human rights and persecuting Chinese spouses Chinese influencer “Yaya in Taiwan” (亞亞在台灣) yesterday evening voluntarily left Taiwan, despite saying yesterday morning that she had “no intention” of leaving after her residence permit was revoked over her comments on Taiwan being “unified” with China by military force. The Ministry of the Interior yesterday had said that it could forcibly deport the influencer at midnight, but was considering taking a more flexible approach and beginning procedures this morning. The influencer, whose given name is Liu Zhenya (劉振亞), departed on a 8:45pm flight from Taipei International Airport (Songshan airport) to Fuzhou, China. Liu held a news conference at the airport at 7pm,
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 —
RSS