Lu tells LA
Taiwan is a 'global island'
"Taiwan
should forge a partnership, not hostility, with mainland China,
as both sides must co-exist."
-Vice President Annette Lu
CNA,
LOS ANGELES
Taipei Times 2001/12/17
Vice President Annette Lu (呂秀蓮) said here Tuesday
that Taiwan has become an "ocean state" and a "global
island" since its accession to the WTO at the beginning
of this year.
Speaking at a cocktail reception hosted in her honor by Taiwan
Representative to the US Chen Chien-jen (程建人), Lu also said
that Taiwan should use what she called its "soft power"
for peaceful engagements with China.
"Taiwan should forge
a partnership, not hostility, with mainland China, as both sides
must co-exist," Lu said, adding that the two sides' newly
acquired WTO memberships should be conducive to their future
engagements.
Lu and her entourage arrived in Los Angeles Tuesday from Paraguay
for a two-day transit stop. Braving chilly winds, a large crowd
of supporters -- mainly Taiwanese expatriates in California
-- turned out to greet Lu at her hotel. Chen and American Institute
in Taiwan Chairman Richard Bush welcomed her at the Los Angeles
International Airport.
The chartered plane that took Lu and her entourage from Asuncion
to Los Angeles had made a "technical landing" in Panama,
where Lu held an hour-long talk with Panamanian Vice President
Dominador Kaiser Bazan on matters of mutual interest. She met
with Panamanian President Mireya Elisa Moscoso in Nicaragua
Jan. 10 when both were in Managua to attend Nicaraguan President
Enrique Bolanos' inauguration.
Lu made a three-day official visit to Paraguay, Taiwan's sole
diplomatic ally in South America, after attending Bolanos' inauguration
on behalf of President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁).
She was originally scheduled to stay in Los Angeles for three
days, but decided to cut short her stay by one day in order
to visit her older sister, who is seriously ill in Taipei. Lu
will return to Taipei tomorrow.
On her way from Taipei to Managua, Lu also made a three-day
transit stop in New York, where she met US business executives.