The Miami Herald
TAIPEI, Taiwan - Taiwan's first lady on Monday called Sean Connery her idol and said she was sorry the Scottish megastar won't be joining a protest against rival China's missile threat this week. Organizers of the peace protest said last week that Connery planned to attend Saturday's event. But Connery's agent later said the actor never planned to be part of the human-chain demonstration that's supposed to stretch the length of Taiwan - more than 300 kilometers (190 miles). First lady Wu Shu-chen told reporters she idolized Connery and has been watching James Bond movies since she was in elementary school. The first lady made the comments during a news conference about a recently published picture book about her travels. When President Chen Shui-bian surprised her by dropping by the event, the wry Wu said, "Oh, I thought there was going to be a surprise guest like Sean Connery. Then I see it's just the president, and I'm a bit disappointed." Wu said that since her husband was elected in 2000, she has only had a chance to go to the theater to see two films, the semiofficial Central News Agency. One of them was the James Bond adventure "Die Another Day," featuring Pierce Brosnan as 007 and Halle Berry as an American agent. Saturday's protest will urge China to redeploy nearly 500 short-range missiles pointed at Taiwan. The two sides split amid civil war in 1949, and Beijing has threatened to use force to take over the island. |