First TT journalist to visit Taiwan in 30 years

WHEN I was first sent on a real overseas assignments to Orlando, Florida, in 1987, I thought that the flight was very long. Then, it became regular assignments to the Privy Council in London. That flight alone was 10 hours. In 1998, I went to the Miss World Pageant in the Seychelles. That flight was 12 hours from France to the Seychelles in Africa. Last year, I thought I had travelled the end of the earth when I went to Japan. That flight was more than 13 hours from New York. I felt then that there was no where longer than Japan. To my great surprise, I have gone further...to Taiwan — a country slowly recovering from the SARS virus and which lost billions of dollars in revenue from the tourism industry. That flight was 18 and a half hours from New York. But the passengers had some respite as the flight touched down in Anchorage. Where on heaven’s name is that, I asked the flight attendant. “Alaska”, she answered in her Chinese accent. To which I replied, “well then, I should see Santa Claus heading to the North Pole.”

Imagine that! Of all places for a plane to land...Alaska...with a big international airport too. The flight took about seven hours from New York to Alaska and another nine and a half to reach Taiwan. I did not venture outside to see if Alaska was really cold. I finally arrived in Taipei at 6.30 am on Friday August 1 which was just 6.30 pm in Trinidad the day before. The China Airlines flight, which was filled, was the only one on the ground at that hour in the morning. There to greet me was Carmen Tsai, the Government Information and Protocol Officer,  who along with her colleagues are responsible for eight journalists...the other seven coming from Central and South America -  Argentina, Peru, Paraguay, Guatemala, Panama, Dominican Republic and El Salvador. What was this trip all about? The trip was sponsored by the Government of the Republic of China (ROC) for senior journalists “in the other part of the world.” The invitation to Trinidad came from the ROC Embassy in Grenada. There is no ROC mission in Trinidad. Instead, there is the Embassy of the People’s Republic of China based in Port-of-Spain. That Embassy represents the “other China” - Beijing China.

So, before I could set off for Taiwan, I had to meet my sponsor — the ROC Ambassador in Grenada — Allan Lii-shang Jiang and his wife. The very hard-working Press Counsellor James Sun, who visited Newsday’s offices in 2001, was there at Point Salines International Airport to greet me. From there, we went to the Ambassador’s residence at True Blue where a wonderful lunch was prepared. Also present were Hannah Cheng, Third Secretary, and  Celine Cheng, Economic and Trade Specialist. Ambassador Jiang said I was the first TT journalist to be invited to Taiwan since TT broke off diplomatic ties with that country in 1973. The Ambassador said Taiwan’s presence in the Caribbean is well-known. But Jiang, who was also based in St Vincent, wants more ties with Trinidad and Tobago. He believes that Taiwan and TT could become good friends and trading partners. Jiang is making the first move to re-establish diplomatic ties, even if it will take years to materialise. He is hosting a trade show at the Trinidad Hilton in October and this is his attempt to woo TT businessmen to Taipei. “I feel Taiwan and Trinidad could do well together. We have so much to offer each other. You must remember, Taiwan has no natural resources as Trinidad...we depend on trade,” Ambassador Jiang added.

Although Taiwan is ranked 15th in foreign trade and maintains substantive relations with over 140 countries around the world, it has full diplomatic relations with only 27 countries and is not a member of the United Nations. Taiwan’s relations with mainland China are not so good. China poses a serious threat to Taiwan. There are 400 missiles pointed at Taiwan, which could be triggered off at any time. Taiwan is not sitting idly by and waiting for China to attack. With a population of more than 22 million, this tiny Asian country budgeted US $8.3 billion for national security in 2002. That was 16.5 percent of Taiwan’s national budget. So serious is the threat of war. Back to the purpose of my trip. The eight of us visited various parts of Taiwan over the last week, during which we became friends. In fact, I had no media friends in those seven countries until last week. We promise to keep in touch and to inform each other of developments on each country. The week in Taiwan was exciting. We were exposed to the Taiwanese way of life and the after effects of SARS. Whether Taiwan has recovered is anybody’s guess.