Taipei, Oct. 28 (CNA) President Chen Shui-bian received the credentials of the Solomon Islands' new envoy to Taipei in a ceremony held at the Presidential Office Tuesday and vowed to further promote bilateral ties.
Chen told Ambassador Beraki Jino during the ceremony that Taiwan and the Solomon Islands have maintained diplomatic relations for 20 years and that the friendship between the two nations will be further enhanced with Jino's presence in Taipei.
Chen said that both Taiwan and the Solomon Islands are oceanic nations and that their peoples share the same values of democracy, freedom, peace and respect for human rights.
The president said that he is satisfied with the progress and fruitful results achieved in various medical, technological, agricultural and fishery exchanges between the two countries.
He also thanked the Solomon Islands for the assistance and support it has extended to Taiwan in the international arena, particularly in its bid to join the United Nations.
With the Solomon Islands' assistance, Chen noted, Taiwan became one of the partners of the South Pacific Forum in 1992 and a member of the Convention on the Conservation and Management of Highly Migratory Fish Stocks in the Western and Central Pacific Ocean in 2000.
In response, Jino told Chen that his country will continue to support Taiwan's international bids and hopes to increase exchanges between the two countries and further promote bilateral ties.
The government of the Solomon Islands recognizes Taiwan as a sovereign nation that should be treated fairly and equally in the international community, he added.