Mr. President, Vice President of the Legislative Yuan, Deputy Minister of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Amb. Ms. Elizabeth Chu, members of the Legislative Yuan, and members of the diplomatic delegation,
I wish to convey my utmost respect to the government and people of Taiwan on behalf of the people of the Marshall Islands. The members of the delegation and I are deeply honored to visit this beautiful island nation and pay our highest respect once more on behalf of the people and government of the Marshall Islands. I wish to thank President Jin-Pyng Wang of the Legislative Yuan for his invitation so that I have the distinguished opportunity to give a speech here to the Legislative Yuan and members. It is no doubt a humbling experience for any individual. We know that parliament and members of parliament are integrated into an embodiment, and thus unavoidably face the challenges of democratic development. I have been a member of parliament throughout most of my career. I therefore feel, like you do, the same frustrations when facing defeats and the sweetglory when overcoming those challenges
I am particularly grateful for the opportunity to thank The State President, Mr. Shui-Bian Chen on this visit. He called me on the night when I was elected, not only to congratulate me and the government, but also for extending an invitation to me to visit Taiwan. As you can see, Taiwan is the first country I paid a state visit after taking office. I was honored to host Vice President, Ms.Annette Lu on the Marshall Islands last month and exchanged ideas with her on strengthening the relations between our countries.
The Marshall Islands have maintained long-term diplomatic relations with many countries across the world. The history of diplomatic relations between Taiwan and the Marshall Islands may be short, but the tie between us has been much closer. In the short 10 years of the establishment of diplomatic relations, the relation between ushas advanced rapidly. Taiwan has supported our social and economic development and your influence on the Marshall Islands has expanded to all levels as the main driver of the development of the country.
Taiwan's friendship to us is beyond mere words but consists of real actions which form a solid foundation for diplomatic relations between our countries. Taiwan's assistance and influence on the Marshall Islands span across multiple sectors including education, health, agriculture, medical training programs, and solar power generation, and it has assisted Air Marshall Islands in restoring operations. On behalf of the people of the Marshall Islands, I wish to express my sincere gratitude to the people of the Republic of China (Taiwan) for your support in education, health, agriculture, and medical training programs. Thank you so much. There is a theory in political science claims that states must be founded upon values and beliefs. I completely agree with this theory. However, values and beliefs must also advance with the times and constantly adapt. When globalization brings forth scientific and technological advancements, no corner of the world is free from the impact of economic development. We must learn from Taiwan. I wish to congratulate the people and government of Taiwan for your outstanding achievements in this respect.
When your Vice President, Ms. Annette Lu visited the Marshall Islands, we discussed many important issues on the basis of mutual assistance and trust. Vice President Lu repeatedly assured me of President Chen's commitment to support the restoration of the operations Air Marshall Islands and we agreed to include it as one of the future projects of the two governments. I sincerely hope that we can continue to discuss this plan.
Taiwan maintains solid relations with many Pacific island nations. These are generally smaller countries.Many people seem to believe that it is not a difficult task to provide support and assistance to small countries such as the Marshall Islands. I wish to explain to members of the Legislative Yuan that such ideas and beliefs are not accurate. On the contrary, it is no simple task to achieve balanced developments and governances on 29 islands spread across 1 million square miles of ocean. The natural difficulties have always posed many challenges on our national development Therefore, I wish to express my gratitude for the President Chen for restoring the operations of Air Marshall Islands. The support is a testament of his insight and dedication to practicality.
The industrial development of the Republic of China and the diligence of the people have created an economic miracle and fostered social development in Taiwan. Your country has comprehensive government institutions of which is best represented by the parliament — Legislative Yuan. Taiwan is naturally qualified to participate in any organization of various level just like any other country. Marshall Islands will do its best to support Taiwan and its people's bid to join the United Nations and other international and regional organizations. This topic was discussed in our parliament and we also try to speak for Taiwan in regional forums as well as all other possible platforms and occasions.
I wish to express my utmost gratitude for the sincere hospitality of the President of the Legislative Yuan, H.E. Mr. Jin-Pyng Wang, Vice President of the Legislative Yuan, Hon. Yung-Chuan Tseng, Deputy Minister of MOFA, Amb. Ms. Elizabeth Chu, members of the Legislative Yuan, and the people of Taiwan. I will cherish this wonderful friendship forever. God bless the Republic of China and its people.
Thank you.
Video Link：https://aam.ly.gov.tw/P000051_03.do/1208
