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 | Taiwan's President Chen Shui-bian (R) toasts with Douglas Paal, director of the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT), during a meeting at the Presidential Palace in Taipei January 23, 2006. Paal, the United States' top representative in Taiwan, will leave Taipei on January 25 after three-and-a-half years as head of the de facto U.S. embassy. Paal was awarded the Order of the Brilliant Star by Chen. click to open  |  | Taiwan's President Chen Shui-bian (R) greets Douglas Paal, director of the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT), during a meeting at the Presidential Palace in Taipei January 23, 2006. Paal, the United States' top representative in Taiwan, will leave Taipei on January 25 after three-and-a-half years as head of the de facto U.S. embassy. Paal was awarded the Order of the Brilliant Star by Chen. click to open |  | Taiwan's President Chen Shui-bian (R) awards Douglas Paal, director of the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT), the Order of the Brilliant Star at the Presidential Palace in Taipei January 23, 2006. Paal, the United States' top representative in Taiwan, will leave Taipei on January 25 after three-and-a-half years as head of the de facto U.S. embassy. click to open |  | Former Taiwan President Lee Teng-hui speaks to reporters while touring the Jefferson Memorial in Washington October 17, 2005. Lee is in Washington to pedal his vision of an independent Taiwan, aiming to draw international attention to China's military threats against his island. The 82-year-old former president stepped down in 2000 after a 12-year tenure and retains much influence in Taiwan. click to open |  | Former Taiwan president Lee Teng-hui tours the Jefferson Memorial in Washington October 17, 2005. Lee is in Washington to pedal his vision of an independent Taiwan, aiming to draw international attention to China's military threats against his island. The 82-year-old former president stepped down in 2000 after a 12-year tenure and retains much influence in Taiwan. click to open |  | Former Taiwan president Lee Teng-hui smiles beneath a statue of Thomas Jefferson while touring the Jefferson Memorial in Washington, DC, October 17, 2005. Lee is in Washington to pedal his vision of an independent Taiwan, aiming to draw international attention to China's military threats against his island. The 82-year-old former president stepped down in 2000 after a 12-year tenure and retains much influence in Taiwan. click to open |  | Taiwan's President Chen Shui-bian (R) shakes hands with Winston Lord, former U.S. ambassador to China, as George D. Schwab, president of the National Committee on American Foreign Policy, looks on at the presidential office in Taipei on April 5, 2004. Chen has consented to a recount of the March 20 presidential election, which he won by a narrow 0.2 percent margin a day after a mysterious assassination attempt. click to open |  | U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage, left, speaks at a briefing for reporters in Beijing, China, on Jan. 30, 2004, as U.S. Ambassador to China Clark Randt looks on. Armitage met with Chinese leaders and discussed the Taiwan and North Korea issues. click to open |  | Taiwan President Chen Shui-bian (R) meets U.S. congressman Patrick Kennedy (D-RI) before a closed-door meeting in Taipei January 6, 2004. Chen has vowed to press ahead with a controversial referendum calling on rival China to dismantle nearly 500 missiles pointed at the island despite a blunt warning from U.S. President George W. Bush against upsetting the political status quo. click to open |
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