Taipei, Nov. 19 (CNA) President Chen Shui-bian said Tuesday he is hopeful that the Bush administration will send a ministerial-level official to attend a Taiwan-United States energy meeting in Taipei next spring.
Chen made the remarks while meeting with a delegation of the U.S.-Taiwan Business Council, which groups American companies with interests in Taiwan. The delegation, headed by Frank C. Carlucci, chairman of the council, arrived in Taiwan Sunday for a four-day visit.
When the 26th Joint Conference of the ROC-USA and U.S.-Taiwan Business Councils was held in Taipei in September, Chen said, no Bush administration officials traveled to the island to attended the meeting as they were busy with commemoration of the anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.
The annual joint conference has been held in Taiwan and the United States alternately. The United States has traditionally sent a Cabinet-level official to attend the meeting.
Chen expressed his gratitude for the U.S.-Taiwan Business Council's contribution to the promotion of substantive exchanges and cooperation between the countries over the past years.
Through the council's arrangement, Chen said, ROC Minister of National Defense Tang Yiau-min traveled to Florida in March this year to attend the first Taiwan-U.S. defense summit. The council also invited Minister of Transportation and Communications Lin Ling-san to attend its board meeting in May this year.
Chen told Carlucci, who concurrently heads the Carlyle Group, that he welcomes and appreciates the Carlyle Group's investment in Taiwan. The group has invested US$250 million in Taiwan's cable TV and broadband telecommunications services. "We are planning to hold a large trade fair next year to attract foreign investors, and we hope that your group will invest even more in Taiwan," Chen said.
Carlucci, who once served as the White House national security adviser and defense secretary, will end his tenure as chairman of the U.S.-Taiwan Business Council at the end of this year. Chen said he hopes Carlucci will continue helping promote Taiwan-U.S. ties.
Other delegation members included Rupert J. Hammond-Chambers, president of the U.S.-Taiwan Business Council, and Gregory M. Zeluck, the Carlyle Group's managing director for Asia.