Vice President Vincent C. Siew on the morning of September 16 at the Presidential Building met with Director of the Center for Civil Society Studies at The Johns Hopkins University’s Institute for Policy Studies Dr. Lester Salamon. The vice president expressed a warm welcome to Dr. Salamon on his visit to Taiwan.
Vice President Siew commented that Dr. Salamon is a renowned academic in the field of social education, adding that he has carried out in-depth research in the area of civil society. The vice president said he trusts that Dr. Salamon on this visit to Taiwan will share many thoughts with Taiwan’s non-governmental organization (NGO) experts and groups.
The vice president said that democracy has already taken root in Taiwan. What Taiwan needs now is to continue to deepen its democracy, while at the same time further strengthening the development of civil society. This will enable citizens to have a better appreciation of the universal values of freedom, democracy and human rights. Vice President Siew said that in the future the government will continue to strengthen social education, which will encourage each citizen to press ahead in efforts to practice universal values.
Dr. Salamon expressed his appreciation to Vice President Siew for taking time out of his busy schedule to meet with him. He also praised the vitality displayed by Taiwan’s NGOs, adding that he hopes Taiwan’s NGOs are able to continue to participate in international-related activities.
Dr. Salamon was accompanied to the Presidential Building in the morning to meet with Vice President Siew by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ NGO Affairs Committee Deputy Director David C. K. Wu and representatives from local NGOs, such as the Cardinal Tien Cultural Foundation, the Tzu Chi Foundation and the Eden Social Welfare Foundation.