President Chen Shui-bian received a delegation of Canadian parliament members at the Office of the President on March 28, discussing with the guests such issues as mutual cooperation and Taiwan's bid to participate in the World Health Assembly.
As Taiwan and the United States already signed a protocol on cooperation and legal assistance in 2002, the president asked the guests to urge the Canadian House of Commons and Senate to expedite the signing of a similar protocol of this kind with Taiwan in order to form a globally collective camp against terrorism.
For the Canadian Parliament's support in the past two years for Taiwan's participation as an observer in the World Health Assembly, the president expressed to the guests his gratitude. "It will be too high a price to pay if Taiwan is excluded from the global disease prevention network," said the president.
The president especially thanked the Canadian government and parliament for their concern over the Chinese passage of the Anti-Separation Law. "To you and your Prime Minister Paul Martin's opposition to any Chinese use of force against Taiwan, my deepest appreciation and total respect are due," the president told the guests.
Taiwan is Canada's 11th largest trade partner in the world and the fourth in Asia, and the 2-way trade amounted to US$3 billion last year. In addition, the two countries' mutual tourism has been thriving, too, which can be proved by the fact that more than 150,000 Taiwan tourists visited Canada for pleasure in 2005. Therefore, the president asked the guests to urge their government to grant Taiwan's tourists permanent visa-free privileges, which should be beneficial for the two countries.
As the guests raised the Canadian beef issue, the president told the guests that Taiwan weighs all countries' beefs on the same scale. The president reassured the guests that Taiwan's risk evaluation is made according to "evidence-based information and professionalism."
The Canadian delegation was headed by Member of Parliament Stephen Owen and accompanied by Taiwan's Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs Francisco L. Y. Hwang. Mark Chen, Secretary-General to the President, also attended the meeting.