Wu says DPP happy with Su’s ‘successful’ US visit

Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Chairman Su Tseng-chang’s (蘇貞昌) 11-day visit to the US has been successful in consolidating Washington’s support of the party and relaying the party’s policies on various fronts in the US, DPP Representative to the US Joseph Wu (吳釗燮) said yesterday after returning to Taiwan.

“We’re very happy with what we’ve achieved in Washington, where we met the people we wanted to meet and engaged in comprehensive discussions covering a wide range of topics,” Wu said at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport yesterday morning.

Wu and the DPP delegation had flown to Taipei from Vancouver, Canada, the last stop of the party’s North America visit. Su is scheduled to return today.

Su has performed well in his first US visit since assuming the chairmanship in May last year, with a speech he gave in English at a forum co-hosted by the Brookings Institution and the Center for Strategic and International Studies being the most impressive part of his visit, Wu said.

In the speech, Su highlighted the “three Rs” of the party: rebalancing DPP-US ties, reconciling cross-strait relations and responsibility to safeguard Taiwan’s democracy.

The delegation was able to put forth the DPP’s policy toward cross-strait affairs and foreign affairs in their meetings with officials of US President Barack Obama’s administration, members of US Congress and academics from various thinktanks, said Wu, who also serves as the director of the DPP’s Policy Research Committee.

The attendance of heavyweight US politicians, including officials from the American Institute in Taiwan, at the inauguration of the DPP’s Representative Office in Washington further reflected the strong bilateral relationship and trust between the party and the US, Wu said.

Washington responded positively to the DPP’s cross-strait and defense policies after Su offered the party’s support for promoting closer engagement with China, in particular after the establishment of the DPP China Affairs Committee, Wu said, adding that the US also welcomed the party’s emphasis on Taiwan’s national defense in the blue paper it released earlier this month.

Wu said Su was pleased with the warm reception the delegation received from the Taiwanese expat community throughout their trip, which included stops in Los Angeles, New York and Houston, as well as Toronto and Vancouver in Canada.

The trip marked Su’s third overseas visit this year, amid efforts to extend the DPP’s international reach. The chairman in February visited Japan, where he initiated a democratic alliance between Asia-Pacific countries, and traveled to Singapore in April.