President Lee Teng-hui this afternoon expressed his satisfaction with the restoration of formal ties between the Republic of Chad and the Republic of China while meeting with Chad's Minister of Foreign Affairs Mahamat Saleh Annadif, hoping that the two countries can establish even closer relations in future.
President Lee told his guest that, since he assumed the presidency, he has based his administrative policies on three guiding principles:
First, to safeguard the security of Taiwan by transforming the confrontation between the two sides of the Taiwan Strait into peaceful competition;
Second, to replace the authoritarian system of the ROC with a democratic one;
Third, to pragmatically seek appropriate international status for the ROC.
As a democratic sovereign nation, the President said, the ROC has not been treated fairly by the international community. Having been existing for eighty-six years with great success in economic and political reforms, the ROC would like to share her development expriences with other countries for common prosperity, he added.
The President also reiterated the ROC's commitment to honoring the joint communique signed by the two nations on Tuesday for restoring formal ties, and he asked Minister Annadif to convey his personal invitation to Chad President Idriss Deby to visit Taipei in October.
During the meeting, Minister Annadif pointed out that the decision to restore diplomatic relations with the ROC had been considered by his government for a long time and it was therefore a mature and correct decision. Moreover, he noted, on the way to democracy, Chad is in need of a friend like the ROC to provide treasured developing experiences.
Minister Annadif was accompanied by ROC Foreign Minister John Chang to the Office of the President for the meeting. Also present was Mr. Stephen S. F. Chen, deputy secretary-general of the Office of the President.