Taipei, March 16 (CNA) President Ma Ying-jeou will make transit stops in the U.S. territory of Guam to refuel during his week-long trip to the South Pacific that will take him to all six of Taiwan's diplomatic allies in the region, Foreign Minister Timothy Yang said Tuesday.
"The United States has approved Taiwan's request for the transit stops, " Yang said.
Yang said Ma and his 90-person entourage will make a 60-minute stop in Guam on March 22 on the outward journey and a 90-minute stop March 27 on the return trip.
Ma's first trip to the South Pacific since he assumed office in May 2008 will take him to the Solomon Islands, Palau, the Marshall Islands, Kiribati, Nauru and Tuvalu from March 21-27.
Guam, an island in the western Pacific Ocean, is an unincorporated territory of the United States.
Raymond Burghardt, chairman of the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT), is expected to greet President Ma in Guam on March 27, Yang said.
Yang added that he appreciated U.S. assistance on President Ma's overseas trips in the past two years.
Asked whether the assistance showed Taiwan has gradually mended its relations with the U.S. after the U.S. beef import controversy, Yang declined to comment, but said Taiwan has successfully limited the impact of the dispute over whether to lift a ban on certain U.S. beef products.
"We have had discussions with the U.S. and successfully limited it (the beef controversy) to a trade issue, " he said. (By Chris Wang) enditem/cs