Taipei, Jan. 20 (CNA) President Chen Shui-bian said Thursday that Taiwan's success is absolutely an asset to the United States and Taiwan will never become a liability for America.
Chen made the remarks while meeting with a delegation of the National Committee on American Foreign Policy (NCAFP) , a noted U.S. think tank. The delegation, headed NCAFP President George D. Schwab, is currently on a fact-finding visit in Taiwan.
As one of the best allies of U.S. values, Chen said Taiwan will not become a liability to the U.S. in the coming four years. Instead, he said, Taiwan's success story will always be an asset for the U.S. "Myself and the Republic of China government and people will do whatever we can to safeguard our hard-won democratic achievements and economic prosperity as well as to defend the peace and status quo across the Taiwan Strait, " Chen said, adding that Taiwan will not only refrain from making any unilateral move to change the peaceful cross-strait status quo but will also do its utmost to prevent this status quo from being unilaterally altered.
As for what he said in his new year's day address that this is an era for dialogue and consultations, Chen said he is working to foster national healing and inter-party reconciliation after last year's bitterly divisive presidential election on the domestic front and simultaneously to push for resumption of the long-stalled cross-strait dialogue.
Chen said he was pleased to see the two sides of the Taiwan Strait get together to consult and finally succeed in striking a landmark deal last weekend on the launch of direct, non-stop cross-strait charter flights during the upcoming Chinese Lunar New Year holiday to accommodate returning mainland China-based Taiwan businessmen. "I'm convinced that the successful charter flight negotiations mark a good start and opportunity for normalization of cross-strait relations," Chen said.
Chen also took advantage of the meeting to offer his congratulations on the Jan. 20 inauguration of U.S. President George W. Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney for a second term. "I wish to offer congratulations on behalf of the ROC government and the 23 million Taiwan people on the Bush-Cheney ticket's second inauguration. God bless America, " Chen said, adding that he believes that the United States, under Bush's leadership, will bring permanent peace to the world and the Taiwan Strait.