Wrangle delays Taiwan leader trip

Chen Shui-bian has stayed overnight on stop-overs before

Taiwan's President Chen Shui-bian has been forced to delay a trip to Paraguay and Costa Rica for a day after problems with stop-overs in the US.

The trip requires the stops on the way but China, which regards Taiwan as a renegade province, had urged Washington not to approve them.

The US has granted them in the past but the timing is sensitive, coming soon after the visit of China's president.

Costa Rica and Paraguay are among the 25 nations with official Taiwan ties.

Rights award

Taiwan Foreign Minister James Huang said the president would now only stop briefly in Alaska for refuelling as he headed for Paraguay.

Mr Chen had been due to leave on Wednesday but is now to depart at about 0830 (0030 GMT) Thursday.

President Bush needs Hu Jintao's support over Iran

Mr Chen had hoped to stop over in New York and San Francisco, media reports said.

Mr Huang said the new arrangements were not satisfactory but that Taiwan understood the US need to court China over issues such as Iran.

But he added: "China is taking advantage of the complicated international situations and doing everything it can to squeeze Taiwan's international space."

Mr Chen had been allowed to receive a human rights award in New York in 2003 on a stop-over.

Analysts say the current timing is sensitive, given the US visit of Chinese President Hu Jintao last month.

Relations between China and Taiwan have cooled further this year with Mr Chen abolishing a body set up to deal with relations with Beijing.

That moved brought criticism from the US government.

Mr Chen is planning to attend the presidential inauguration of Oscar Arias in Costa Rica.