Taiwan President Chen Shui-bian will cut short his stay in the United States between visits to two Latin American allies, a presidential official said Thursday, in what was seen as a result of Chinese pressure. "In view of the serious damage caused by the typhoon and to make rescue and relief work the priority task of the government, the president has decided to cut short his scheduled state visit," said James Huang, deputy secretary-general of the Presidential Office. Instead of leaving on August 29, Chen will postpone his trip to the night of August 30, Huang said, adding President Chen will no longer stay overnight during stopovers in Hawaii on his way to Panama and Seattle on his way back. Chen will make use of the refueling time to meet ethnic Taiwanese in Hawaii on August 30 and in Seattle on September 3rd, Huang said. He added that Chen is expected to return to Taiwan September 5th. He said Chen was concerned about the typhoon victims and decided to trim his visit from eight to seven days, during which he would have to spend almost 43 hours aboard the airplane. More than 20 people were killed and thousands left homeless after Typhoon Aere hit the island on Wednesday. Asked if the cut in the U.S. transit stay had anything to do with China, Huang said he would not speculate. "But it has long been a practice for the Chinese Communists to do all it can to suppress us diplomatically." --more 1419 Local Time 1119 GMT
