Taipei, July 3 (CNA) President Chen Shui-bian on Monday urged Academia Sinica to continue being the key driving force behind Taiwan's "uplifting" endeavor.
In a speech delivered at the opening of the 24th annual assembly of Academia Sinica members, Chen urged Academia Sinica to continue to be a reservoir of world-class researchers and academics who will make further contributions to securing sustainable development for humankind.
Chen expressed his respect and appreciation for the institute's extraordinary contributions to the nation in academic, science and technology, cultural, and educational developments.
He said that as the nation's top research institute, Academia Sinica has accomplished a great number of breakthroughs in many research fields over the past five years under the capable leadership of President Lee Yuan-tseh.
Chen said he attaches great expectations to Academia Sinica as an institute that will continue to make contributions in research fields both domestically and internationally in the years to come.
The president vowed to throw his full support behind Academia Sinica, which has faced delays in the passage of legislation governing its organization. He said he will see to it that the Academia Sinica Organization Bill is passed in the Legislative Yuan at the quickest time possible.
Chen also promised that all the funds that Academia Sinica needs for research development will not be hindered and that he will help the institute secure land near its present location in order to allow it to make necessary expansions.
The 24th Academia Sinica assembly of members opened Monday at the institute, located in the Taipei suburb of Nankang, with the participation of more than 150 members and ranking officials from the government, including Premier Tang Fei and Presidential Office Secretary-General Chang Chun-hsiung.
Also addressing the opening, Academia Sinica President Lee Yuan-tseh expressed appreciation and pleasure with the record high number of members taking part in the assembly this year.
Many of the participants have come to Taipei from abroad for the gathering. These include Dr. David Ho, one of the renowned AIDS "Cocktail" therapy inventors, former University of California at Berkeley Chancellor Tien Chang-lin, the Nobel laureates Yang Chen-ning and Ting Chao-chung, as well as the noted historians Yu Ying-shih and Hsu Cho-yun, Lee said.
Lee said that at this crucial juncture in history when globalization, the Internet, and the "knowledge economy" are having an unprecedented impact on the world, the Academia Sinica, at the forefront of the academic and research sector in Taiwan, will strive to upgrade itself so as to meet the challenges and help raise the country's overall competitiveness.