Taipei, May 29 (CNA) In the face of the challenging and fast-evolving technology of the 21st century, Taiwan will not only remain a "Formosa" -- Portuguese for "beautiful island" -- but will also become a "green silicon island" as well, President Chen Shui-bian said on Monday.
The newly-inaugurated president said that he will strive to help develop Taiwan into a high-tech island with a mature democracy and meaningful environmental protection, so that it will become a "green silicon island."
Chen made the remarks during a meeting with Masayoshi Sun, founder and CEO of Softbank Corp., a leading global Internet investor and the largest software company in Japan.
Sun has been nicknamed "the Japanese Bill Gates," and has been cited by Forbes magazine as one of the 10 most influential persons in the world in the last two consecutive years. Chen took advantage of the meeting by asking Sun to be his personal adviser, an offer that the Japanese technology guru accepted.
Sun, whose grandparents immigrated to Japan from Korea, received his education at the University of California at Berkeley.
Sun, who is in Taipei for a two-day stay at the invitation of First International Computer, a local computer hardware supplier, said the Taiwanese people made the right choice when they elected Chen to be their president. He lauded Chen as a young and outstanding leader who is committed to democracy.
During the audience, Chen said Sun's crisp judgment is an example worthy of Taiwanese emulation. Sun once said one is doomed to lose golden opportunities if one is afraid of taking risks when the odds are 50-50.
Sun is adept at delegating power to his subordinates, Chen said, adding that nobody can be successful without help from other persons. Sun's successful management of Softbank, which has a market value of some six trillion yen, can be attributed to the fact that he treats his employees the same way that he serves clients, Chen added.
Chen noted that some people have said he is too young to be president, but Sun is even younger than he is. At the age of 42, Sun is running one of Japan's largest firms and has bought large stakes in more than 300 Web firms such as Internet portal Yahoo.