Taiwan president plans to visit quake-stricken Haiti

Jan 15, 2010, 13:08 GMT

Taipei - Taiwan's President Ma Ying-jeou may visit Haiti to express his concern over the deadly earthquake that killed tens of thousands of people in the Caribbean nation, a senior official said Friday.

'The authorities are evaluating the possibility of adding a stop in Haiti or [the Dominican Republic] for the president to express his humanitarian concern during his overseas visit,' Vice Foreign Minister Javier Hou said.

Ma is scheduled to leave for Honduras on January 25 for the inauguration of president-elect Porfirio Lobo Sosa.

Hou said Ma also hopes to visit officials injured when Tuesday's magnitude-7 quake leveled Taiwan's embassy in the Haitian capital Port-au-Prince.

Hou said as conditions in Haiti are confusing Taiwan's authorities needed to overcome technical problems in order to make Ma's stopover possible.

'Also, we must find out whether such an additional stop would create more trouble' for Haiti or the Dominican Republic, he added.

Taiwan also was to send a second team made up of 33 rescuers, medical and civil engineering experts to Haiti on Friday. A first group travelled to Haiti on Thursday.