Islands Business - Taiwan president lands in Guam on first Pacific stop

HAGATNA ---- Taiwan’s President Ma Ying-jeou stated that his six-day “island-hopping” visit to Taiwan`s six Pacific diplomatic partners will have “more substantive significance” than two previous summit meetings held under the previous Democratic Progressive Party government. President Ma made the remark shortly after his chartered China Airlines Boeing 737-800 jetliner lifted off from Taoyuan Taiwan International Airport at 8:00 am Sunday evening. After a three and a half hour flight, the presidential charter arrived at Guam International Airport, where he was met by met by Guam Governor General Felix Camacho, for a brief stop on the first leg of a six-day set of state visits to each of Taiwan`s six Pacific Ocean allies at about 1:50 am local time) for a one hour refueling stop before proceeding to the Republic of the Marshall Islands. The CAL jet immediately hit heavy turbulence from the massive sandstorm from China, but after the turbulence eased when the Boeing 737-800 reached its cruse attitude, Ma used the aircraft intercom system to discuss the trip`s purpose with over 90 members of his entourage, including 32 accompanying journalists. The president said he was happy to make his first ever visit to the island nations in the Pacific Ocean, which he acknowledged that he ``had not much time to understand`` despite his love of world geography and travel. President Ma added that the planned visits to Taiwan`s diplomatic partners of the Marshall Islands, Kiribati, Tuvalu, Nauru, the Solomon Islands and Palau, which will include two refuelling stops in Guam, will require 18 landings and takeoffs and encompass 10,000 miles and quipped that its course will be similar to the ``island-hopping`` strategy adopted by the United States armed forces in fighting the Japanese empire during World War II. President Ma said that the tight schedule was necessary because “domestic affairs are very busy, but since our Pacific allies are so nice to us that I had to make time to visit them.” He stated that his policy of ``active diplomacy`` had scored major achievements since he took office in May 2008 and said that the strategy encompassed more than simply the “diplomatic truce” with the People`s Republic of China, under which Taipei and Beijing are not supposed to engage in “cutthroat struggle” or entice away each other`s allies. Instead, the president said that the “active diplomacy” concept included deepening bilateral relations and cooperation with existing allies. The president related that initial plans had been to convene a summit meeting with the heads of state or government of the six Pacific allies in the Solomon Islands, but that this plan had been cancelled after southern Taiwan had been struck by Typhoon Morakot last August. The summit, originally scheduled for October 2008, would have been the third Taiwan - Pacific Allies Summit following two previous summits convened by former president Chen Shui-bian of the previous Democratic Progressive Party government in Koror, Palau in September 2007 and Majuro, the capital of the Marshall Islands, in September 2007. President Ma stated that he decided to substitute a series of bilateral visits to each of the six allies, saying that the stops, as short as five hours in the Marshall Islands and Tuvalu, “would have more substantive significance and help us deepen understandings.” Global warming impact The president added that a major theme of the trip would concern global warming and the likelihood of a rise in the sea levels that could force low-lying coral atoll nations, such as Kiribati and Tuvalu, to abandon some or perhaps even all of their national territory. “On this visit, we hope to learn more about this problem faced by Pacific island nations,” said Ma, who added that Taiwan would also face challenges and difficulties from rising sea levels. President Ma also related that Taiwan`s Pacific island allies are small in population and relatively poor but extend over vast areas of the Pacific Ocean, which he said had rich resources with “considerable use value.” The president related that he had advocated ``building a marine nation`` and the establishment of a national marine affairs commission. He related that his government`s foreign assistance policy stresses the principles of “legitimate purpose, proper procedure and efficient implementation” through the government budgetary process in which only vetted programs will be allocated budgets with the results reviewed and audited. President Ma related that the Taiwan government would be promoting six plans in the six countries, including medicine and health, vocational training, fisheries, solar energy and culture and that the trip will also be concerned with expanding opportunities for Taiwan companies in solar energy and other fields. The president also related that the common ancestors of Austronesian, Melanesian and Polynesian peoples of the six Pacific allies “are based on some theories come from Taiwan” and he had therefore invited five of the six indigenous legislators on the visit. A story about Bikini Before concluding, Ma added that ``there is another very interesting aspect`` of the visit and related that one of the RMI`s atolls is named Bikini. “When you hear the word `bikini,` everyone thinks of bikini swimsuits and beautiful women and perhaps you may think that Bikini atoll has many beautiful women,”` the Taiwan president said. “`This is a very fascinating misunderstanding,`` said Ma, who related that the atoll became famous after World War II when the United States used Bikini as a testing site for thermonuclear weapons. Ma said that ``the French designer who invited the two piece swimsuit said he used the name of Bikini atoll because the swimsuit would cause an explosion as big as a thermonuclear bomb.” Immediately after completing his statement, Ma strolled through the aircraft to shake hands with the passengers and briefly chatted with some of the accompanying reporters. Before takeoff, Government Information Office Director - General Chiang Chi-chen personally passed out packages of “essential supplies”` to the accompanying 32 journalists. Each package included anti-bacterial soap lotion, mosquito repellant spray, two plastic disposable raincoats and an Australian - style electric power plug. The CAL charter jetliner was slated to depart Guam International Airport at 2:50 am local time and land in Majuro, capital of the Republic of the Marshall Islands, at 9 am local time) for a meeting with RMI President Jurelang Zedkaia and other activities.