On April 7, President Chen Shui-bian met with a delegation of US experts on cross-strait relations at the Office of the President, discussing with them such issues as cross-strait stability and the development of Taiwan's democracy.
The delegation was headed by Natale H. Bellocchi, former board chairman of the American Institute in Taiwan, and the members included June Teufel Dreyer, Richard D. Fisher, Richard Kagan, and Kerry Dumbaugh.
The president first pointed out to the guests Taiwan's core value: the consolidating and deepening of democracy. The president told the guests that in regard to such issues as cross-strait relations, Taiwan's future, the maintenance or change of the status quo, and constitutional reforms, only the 23 million citizens in Taiwan have the right to make decisions.
As Raymond F. Burghardt and Steven Young have been appointed as board chairman of the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) and as director of the institute's Taipei Office, the president shared his joy with the guests that they both witnessed Taiwan's democratic transformation when they were posted as AIT's director and deputy director in the year 2000, in which Taiwan's first peaceful transfer of political power took place and the president assumed his presidency.
To conclude the meeting, the president again extended to the guests his warmest welcome. Taiwan's Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs Chang Siao-yeu, and Secretary-General of the Office of the President Mark Chen also attended the meeting.