Taipei, May 11 (CNA) More than 400 foreign dignitaries from 51 countries, including 15 heads of state, will attend the May 20 inauguration of President Chen Shui-bian, an official of the Presidential Office said Tuesday.
Joseph Wu, vice secretary-general of the Presidential Office, made the remarks during the latest of a series of news conferences in the run-up to the inauguration day.
The 15 heads of state are from Swaziland, Burkina Faso, El Salvador, Gambia, Marshall Islands, Nicaragua, Palau, Panama, Paraguay, Sao Tome and Principe, the Senegal, San Vincent and the Grenadines, Belize, the Solomon Islands and Tuvalu.
Minister of Foreign Affairs Tan Sun Chen also said that the number and rank of foreign dignitaries attending the May 20 inauguration higher than for Chen's first inauguration four years ago.
With more than one week to go before the May 20 inauguration, the foreign minister estimated that the number of foreign dignitaries coming to Taiwan will increase.
He stressed that the large number of foreign dignitaries highlight the fact that the international community has praise for the efforts of the people of Taiwan and that everyone on the island should be proud of this.