Updated at 9:46 a.m., Tuesday, October 9, 2007
Honolulu mayor leaves today for China, S. Korea visits
Advertiser Staff
Honolulu Mayor Mufi Hannemann is today embarking on a weeklong visit to sister cities in China and South Korea in an effort to strengthen ties and promote business and tourism.In China, Hannemann is scheduled to give a speech before business and government leaders in Hong Kong before visiting Zhongshan to mark the 10th anniversary of its sister city relationship with Honolulu.
Hannemann plans to invite Zhongshan officials to visit Honolulu for an upcoming ceremony to dedicate the Dr. Sun Yat-sen Memorial Park and a new statue of Sun that's being cast in China.
The Honolulu City Council has agreed to rename Chinatown Gateway Park for Sun, who received much of his early education on O'ahu and later founded a revolutionary group here. The bronze statue will depict Sun at age 13, when he arrived in Honolulu, and will be placed in the park near the corner of Hotel and Bethel streets.
Sun became the first provisional president of the Republic of China in 1912 and is widely regarded today as "the Father of Modern China." Many of Hawai'i's early Chinese immigrants also came from the Zhongshan area.
Hannemann also will visit the Zhongshan Torch Hi-Tech Industrial Development Zone and participate in the presentation of $15,000 in optical equipment from the United Chinese Society to Zhongshan.
In South Korea, the mayor will visit another sister city, Incheon, to promote Honolulu at a Sister Cities Summit and Citizens Day ceremonies. He will present a plaque to the Immigration Memorial Museum that is being built there.
In Seoul, Hannemann will visit public works and improvement projects and attend a networking dinner with business leaders.
The trip is scheduled to wrap up next Tuesday. With the Honolulu City Council's approval, three groups — the United Chinese Society, Incheon Metropolitan City and Samkoo Pacific LLC — are sponsoring the trip with $8,500 for airfare, lodging and meals.
