A dozen US congressmen on Wednesday paid tribute to Taiwan and to Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Chairman Yu Shyi-kun in Washington, marking a highlight on a day in which a planned meeting with high-level State Department officials fizzled because most of the officials were out of town.
Yu confirmed that he did not make it to the State Department, but told the Taipei Times that it was because of "other scheduled events."
He said that he sent a deputy delegation leader to meet with lower-level department officials instead.
Nevertheless, Yu said through an interpreter that he was "very happy" with his visit, which he described as "so far, so good."
He said he was fulfilling the main purpose, which was "party diplomacy," meetings with members of Congress, a speech scheduled for yesterday at the Heritage Foundation and meetings with the Taiwanese-American community.
The congressional reception contrasted sharply with the scene at the Taiwanese mansion, Twin Oaks, on Tuesday night, where some 50 demonstrators -- supporters of the pan-blue camp -- protested his visit.
The demonstrators, wearing red ribbons to echo calls by the anti-Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) movement for supporters in Taiwan to tie a red ribbon around a tree to signal their disapproval of the president, shouted anti-Chen and anti-Yu slogans as guests entered for a dinner in Yu's honor.
One of the main sources of the US protesters' ire was comments Yu made in New York on Monday, in which he stated that the rains that pelted anti-Chen demonstrators over the weekend were a divine intervention to spoil the demonstration and the anti-Chen movement.
Yu later told reporters that his comments were made in a private conversation and had been taken out of context.
Yu said the issue of the anti-Chen demonstrations did not come up in his meetings with US agencies.
"No one mentioned this topic," he told the Taipei Times.
He said the main topics of conversation were constitutional reform, Taiwan's defense budget and US arms sales to Taiwan.
At the last minute, Yu canceled a press conference scheduled for yesterday evening. Taiwanese officials told reporters the cancelation had been caused by the press of Yu's other scheduled meetings.
But reporters speculated that the cancelation was because of the grilling Yu received from the press during his visit regarding his New York comments.
During Yu's visit, the Taiwanese press have taken every opportunity to ask him questions, and he has given several interviews at events during the visit.
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