Right after his return to Taiwan on May 12 from the visit to Latin America, President Chen Shui-bian had a public meeting with Vice President Lu, Premier Su and some other government officials at the CKS Airport. At the meeting, the president said to the public that the whole country should be proud of the visit because Taiwan's diplomatic and non-diplomatic allies have highly recognized this visit.
"To fight for Taiwan's diplomacy as its president, I cannot permit Taiwan to be deprived of its dignity. No matter how difficult it was, and how much pressure I suffered, I absolutely insisted on increasing Taiwan's international visibility. I believe that I did not let you down, and most importantly, I did not let Taiwan down," said the president.
The president continued to emphasize that "Taiwan is a sovereign and dignified country, and China has sought by all means to crush, to block, and to stifle Taiwan." "However," he added, " the more China is suppressing us, the more we have to unite."
The president said that many leaders of Taiwan's non-diplomatic allies he met with in Latin America had invited him to visit their countries in the future, and he believed that Taiwan will not be alone in the international community.
Regarding his visit to Libya, the president said that Taiwan cannot see that country the same way as it did before. "While Libya was the first country to blame terrorism after the 911 terrorist attack, many US congressmen as well as the UK prime minister have visited Libya and the United Nations has also lifted its sanctions against the country."
Citing Libyan President Muammar al-Qadhafi, the president said that Libya, a sovereign country, looks forward to having more economic and trade interactions with Taiwan and China should not interfere with the contact between Taiwan and Libya.
In conclusion, considering the trip meaningful, the president encouraged the people of Taiwan to be confident in themselves and in Taiwan's future.