Chen turns back on the US and goes the long way to Paraguay
Taiwanese President Chen Shui-bian finally set off yesterday on a marathon trip the island's media dubbed 'a journey to nowhere' - bound for Latin America the long way round after rejecting the United States' humiliating offer of a refuelling stop in Alaska.
When the China Airlines jet taking him to Paraguay and Costa Rica left Taipei yesterday morning, no one, not even Taiwan's Foreign Ministry spokesman, would say where it was heading.
'The plane is heading west to Paraguay,' was all that the spokesman, Michel Lu Ching-lung, would say, adding he was unable to comment further since he was not on the plane.
Then Taiwanese media, quoting a presidential source, said the presidential Boeing 747 was heading for Lebanon, which recognises Beijing, not Taipei. There was, briefly, hope in government circles that Mr Chen could regain some ground by scoring a diplomatic point.
But it was not to be.
Three hours before the jet would have reached Beirut, Lebanese authorities denied it permission to land.
'We got a request [from China Airlines] for landing, but we did not issue permission for it to land,' a Beirut airport official was quoted by Taiwanese cable news channel TVBS as saying.
The mainland's ambassador in Beirut admitted he had asked the Lebanese authorities to reject Mr Chen's flight.
The setback was a new blow for Mr Chen, following Washington's rejection of his requests for an overnight stay in either New York or San Francisco.
When the US offered to allow a refuelling stop in Alaska, the Taiwanese government said it had accepted it. But at the last minute Mr Chen decided he would fly westwards instead - a journey of 371/2 hours - apparently in anger at the US snub. He had never previously been denied permission to stop over in a major US city since becoming president in 2000.
Turned away by Lebanon, Mr Chen's plane eventually landed in Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates, nine hours and 20 minutes after leaving Taipei. The UAE is not one of Taiwan's official allies either, but Mr Chen also stopped over there last year.
Taiwanese TV networks broadcast the plane's arrival in Abu Dhabi, where it stopped for more than three hours, with Mr Chen staying on board. After refuelling, China Airlines officials said it took off for a 13-hour flight to the Dominican Republic, one of Taiwan's 25 remaining diplomatic allies.
However, media speculated Mr Chen could be planning a stopover in a non-allied African country but was not saying which one to avoid being blocked by Beijing.
Mr Chen is expected to return to Taipei on Thursday after a three-day stay in Paraguay and a two-day stay in Costa Rica, where he will attend the inauguration of president-elect Oscar Arias on Monday.
