This morning President Lee Teng-hui told three visiting members of the U.S. House of Representatives-- Solomon Ortiz（D-TX）, Ruben Hinojosa（D-TX） and Silvestre Reyes（D-TX）-- that the ROC government has put forward a proposal that the two sides of the Taiwan Strait jointly invite Southeast Asian countries to discuss measures for stabilizing the financial situation and for promoting economic growth in this region.
President Lee went further to say that this proposal, which thus far has received no positive response from Peking, arose solely out of economic considerations, not political motives. "We do hope that the other side of the Strait would give the proposal serious thought and work together for the purpose of assisting the countries in the area to boost their economic development," added the President.
During the meeting, the guests, on behalf of their colleagues of Hispanic origin in the U.S. House of Representatives, presented President Lee with a jointly-signed letter, expressing their admiration for President Lee's leadership in the ROC's political and economic reforms .
Accompanied by Mr. Darryl Johnson, director of the Taipei Office of the American Institute in Taiwan, and Mr. Wu Tzu-dan, ROC's vice foreign minister, the Ortiz-led delegation came to the Office of the President for the meeting. Dr. Ding Mou-shih, secretary- general of the National Security Council, and Dr. Su Chi, deputy secretary-general of the Office of the President, were also present.