President Lee Teng-hui this evening addressed the "Day of the Americas" dinner party held at the Grand Formosa Regent Taipei.
The full text of the President's speech is as follows:
Your Excellency Ambassador and Mrs. Panama, Your Excellency Ambassador Seraphin, Honorable Representative and Mrs. Balcemeda, Your Excellencies Members of the Diplomatic Corps, Honorable Representatives, Distinguished Spouses, Ladies and Gentlemen:
Good evening. First of all, my wife and I are delighted to be invited by foreign ambassadors and representatives and to be here at this dinner banquet to celebrate "The Day of the Americas" with all of you.
On October 12, 1492, European culture encountered American culture when Christopher Columbus set foot on America. Since then, the American culture gradually merged into the world and became an important part of modern civilization. Later on, immigrants from Asia and Africa arrived, making America a true "melting pot." Columbus Day, therefore, is also called "The Day of the Races." While assimilating cultures from other continents, Latin America managed to preserve its own culture traits and form a new distinctive culture. This unique culture has molded Latin America into a society of simplicity, passion, optimism and racial harmony, which is very similar to that of the Chinese. Hence, basically, there is much commonality between Latin American culture and Chinese culture.
According to Chinese history, in the time of Emperor An during the East Ts'in Dynasty more than 1500 years ago, a Chinese Buddhist monk named Hui-shen, in order to seek religious scriptures, sailed across the Pacific and reached a place called "Fu-sung Kuo," or "the country where the sun rises." Later after many reseach studies by Chinese and foreign scholars, the place reached by the monk was determined to be today's Mexico. The research studies proved that there were very early contacts between American and Chinese cultures. These contacts gradually increased and expanded to today's frequency and the close exchanges between the two cultures have been complementary as well as mutually beneficial.
As you all know, the Republic of China has always enjoyed friendly relations with the countries in the Americas and we have particularly close ties with Latin American countries. This past September, I led a delegation to attend the Universal Congress of the Panama Canal in Panama and visited Honduras, El Salvador and Paraguay. Our delegation was warmly received by their presidents and governments during our stay there and we were also well taken care of during our transits through the United States, making the trip exceptionally pleasant and heart-warming. The ambassadors and representatives of the countries in the Americas present here this evening, as well as the representative of Spain, all serve as important bridges of communications between us. Some of your countries have diplomatic ties with us while some do not. Yet our substantive relations with the latter countries are growing. It is my sincere hope that you will keep close contacts with our government agencies and continue to make suggestions for projects of cooperation and matters of common concern, so that our relations can be further strengthened.
During my trip to the Americas, dubbed "Journey of Peace," I also participated in the seven-nation summit meeting in El Salvador with five chiefs of state of Central American countries and the Prime Minister of Belize. In that meeting, all five heads of state invited my country to join "the Central America Integration System," which I believe will further enhance our friendly cooperation with Latin American countries.
Countries in Latin America have become free and democratic after years of endeavor and struggle, your spirit is no different from that of the Republic of China in our pursuit of freedom and democracy in modern history. It is based on these common beliefs that my country is politically, economically and culturally bound together closely with Latin American countries. In recent years our efforts to participate more actively in international activities have received generous support from our Latin American allies. On behalf of my government and people, I would like to express to you our profound gratitude.
In North America, the United States has a long-term friendly relationship with my country. We share the same values and our bilateral ties are closer than ever. And Canada in recent years has also expanded its economic and cultural ties with my country. We are very pleased with these developments.
Although the Republic of China and countries in the Americas are geographically far apart, we have enjoyed close and cordial relations for a long time. In recent years, in particular, we have witnessed increased exchange of visits by peoples of both sides, closer trade and investment cooperation, and stronger cultural exchange as well as other relations. I would like to reaffirm the position of the government of the Republic of China that, based on the spirit of friendliness and cooperation, we wish to strengthen our relations with your countries, assist each other and work together for the welfare of our peoples and the peace and prosperity of the world.
In closing, may I ask you to join me in a toast to the prosperity of our countries and the good health of Your Excellencies Ambassadors, Representatives, Ladies and Gentlemen. Thank you