Taiwan, to ease cross-strait tension and to raise its international profile, plans to send its First Lady to the Paralympics which will be held in Beijing after the Olympics there, press reports said on Friday, according to dpa. Parliament Speaker Wang Jing-pyng on Friday suggested Friday Chow Mei-ching, wife of the newly-inaugurated president Ma Ying-jeou, should lead the Taiwan delegation to the 13th Paralympics in Beijing September 6-17. "If Chow can go, it will be a sign of eased tension across the Taiwan Strait and can improve Taiwan's visibility on the world stage," he said. Presidential Office Spokesman (Eds: Mr) Wang Yu-chi said it is up to Chow to decide if she want to go to the Para-Olympics. Chow, quit her job as a bank executive to become the honorary president of the Taiwan Red Cross Society after Ma became president on May 22. Taiwan-China ties have improved significantly since Ma's inauguration as Ma seeks peace with China and has pledged not to promote Taiwan independence. However, sending Chow to Beijing is a sensitive issue because until now, China has been blocking Taiwan's international activities, barring Taiwan leaders - including the First Lady - from visiting foreign countries and attending international activities. China regards Taiwan as its breakaway province and sees Taiwan leaders' foreign trips as plots to internationalize the Taiwan issue and to achieve Taiwan's formal separation from China. In 2004, Taiwan sent First Lady Wu Shu-chen, the crippled and wheelchair-bound wife of former president Chen Shui-bian, to the Parlympics in Athens, Greece, as head of the Taiwan delegation. China tried to force Greece to deny entry to Wu. When that failed, China forced the International Olympic Committee to strip Wu of her status as leader of the Taiwan delegation.
