Thousands turn out in Gambia to greet Taiwanese president
August 20, 2000
Web posted at: 2:35 PM EDT (1835 GMT)
BANJUL, Gambia (Reuters) -- Taiwanese President Chen Shui-bian arrived in
the tiny West African state of Gambia on Sunday, the first stop on a
three-nation African tour aimed at raising Taiwan's diplomatic profile.
Witnesses said Chen was greeted at the airport by Gambian President Yahya
Jammeh, and thousands of people lined the 27-kilometer (17-mile) route from
the airport to the capital, Banjul.
Chen, whose first overseas trip since taking office in May has already taken
him to Central America, will visit Burkina Faso and Chad before returning
home on August 25.
Chen, heading a 250-strong delegation including Economic Affairs Minister
Lin Hsin-i, businessmen and journalists, spelled out his message before
leaving on his six-nation tour on August 13, saying: "Taiwan must go out
into the world."
Chen took office in May after winning elections in March, breaking the grip
of the Nationalists who fought and lost a civil war with the Communists on
the mainland in 1949.
Decades of rivalry followed the war. The People's Republic of China
dismisses the Republic of China, as the island of Taiwan is officially
known, as a renegade province.
Taiwan's supporters -- only 29 countries officially recognize it -- are for
the most part impoverished nations in Africa, the Pacific and Central
America.
For the eighth year in succession, a group of mainly African, Caribbean and
Pacific countries have called on the U.N. General Assembly to consider
admitting Taiwan as a member.
China, a permanent member of the U.N. Security Council, has successfully
squashed the move at the start of each session of the assembly, which this
year opens on September 5.
China woos Taiwan's allies
Gambia, neighbor Senegal and Burkina Faso are among the countries that
sponsored the call this year.
But China, which accuses Taiwan of buying diplomatic support, has invited
eight of the island's allies in Africa to a forum in its capital Beijing in
October.
Gambia established diplomatic relations with Taipei in 1995, a year after
President Yahya Jammeh came to power in a coup.
The country of just over one million is in the grip of a electricity crisis
that stretches back to 1977, and Taiwanese experts have been studying the
problem.
Financial sources say Taiwan has pumped more than $35 million into the
Gambian economy, particularly into the health sector, as well as building an
airport and a triumphal arch.
In Chad, which established diplomatic ties with Taiwan in 1997, government
sources say Taipei has granted aid worth $128 million in areas such as
health, education, water projects and road building.
Gambia's neighbor Senegal is probably the most important of the eight
African countries that recognize Taiwan.
Diplomats say Chen wanted to visit but President Abdoulaye Wade, elected in
March, responded with a diplomatic "No" -- saying the government was on
holiday.
Taiwan's other African supporters are Liberia and Sao Tome in the west and
Malawi and Swaziland in the south.
The Central American leg of Chen's tour took him to the Dominican Republic,
Nicaragua and Costa Rica. He travels to Burkina Faso on Monday and then to
Chad on Wednesday.
Copyright 2000 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be
published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
======================================================================
Abdoulie A. Jallow
Toll-free number: 1-888-392-4832(Excite2)
Personal extension for v/mail/fax: 291-368-1519
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