Taipei, March 31 (CNA) President Chen Shui-bian met with Alfredo Pacheco Osoria, the visiting speaker of the Chamber of Deputies from the Dominican Republic, at his office Wednesday.
Noting that the Dominican Republic is the first country he visited after he was first elected president on March 18, 2000, and that Pacheco Osoria is the first foreign guest he has received since being re-elected, Chen said the coincidence is proof of the firm friendship between the two countries.
He thanked Pacheco Osoria for a resolution made by his Chamber of Deputies last year to support Taiwan's unsuccessful bid to join the World Health Organization, as well as a resolution on March 16 this year to support Taiwan's first national referendum in which the voters were asked to call on Beijing to withdraw its missiles targeting Taiwan.
The two resolutions are a testimony to the common desire for democracy, freedom, human rights and peace between the peoples of the two countries, Chen said.
Chen said he hopes that all goes smoothly when the people of the Dominican Republic go to the polls on May 16 to elect a president.