2002 state visit by Chen Ding-nan to the United States
Open-knowledge reference entry
The 2002 state visit by Chen Ding-nan to the United States involved discussing bilateral cooperation in law enforcement. The visit was headed by Chen Ding-nan, the Taiwanese Minister of Justice, with the highlight being the reception by his American counterpart John Ashcroft, Attorney General of the United States of America in the afternoon of 12 July 2002 local time (early morning of 13 July in Taipei time). Because of this visit, Chen became Taiwan's first government official after 1979 (when the United States cut its official diplomatic relations with Taiwan) to be invited into the White House.
Meetings and visits
Other than with John Ashcroft, Chen met with ranking officials from the United States Department of Justice (such as the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) and the Federal Bureau of Investigation) and the United States Department of the Treasury (such as the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network), in order to discuss cooperation with regards to the legislation surrounding crime, in particular drug trafficking, commercial piracy, and global terrorism.
The visit included meetings with members of the United States House of Representatives such as congressmen Jim Sensenbrenner, Representative for the Fifth Congressional District of Wisconsin (at that time also chairman of the House Judiciary Committee) and John Conyers, Representative for the Thirteenth Congressional District of Michigan.
Other than visiting Washington, D.C., Chen visited Harvard University and Yale University and observed local community service programs for criminals and private prisons in New York City, Boston, and the City of Los Angeles.
Headed by Chen, the Taiwanese delegation also included the director of the Ministry of Justice's Prosecutorial Affairs Department Tsai Pi-yu, counselor to the Ministry of Justice Chang Tse-wei and Kuo Shih-sung, director of the Ministry of Justice Investigation Bureau.
The meetings were described to have been friendly and with active cooperation. The trip was described as successful, positive, and constructive by media and observers.
Lead-up
The lead-up to the visit was the Agreement on Mutual Legal Assistance in Criminal Matters between Taiwan and the United States on 26 March 2002, the first judicial agreement signed between the countries, laying legal foundations for cooperation in crime investigation matters.
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