President Chen Shui-bian met with Governor Mike Huckabee of Arkansas on June 21 at the Office of the President.
The president first thanked Governor Huckabee for supporting Taiwan. Under Huckabee's chairmanship, the US Council of State Governments passed a resolution in 2003 in support of Taiwan's bid to become an observer in the World Health Assembly (WHA), which, together with the governor's letter of request to then US Secretary of State Colin Powell, later entailed the US voting in favor of Taiwan's bid in the 2004 WHA meeting.
In addition, the Arkansas State Council passed a resolution last year in support of the signing of a Taiwan-US free trade agreement.
Named by the Time Magazine in 2005 as one of the best US governors, Huckabee was predicted by the media that he is likely to run in the 2008 US presidential election. Therefore, the president extended to him his best wishes.
The president and the governor also appreciated the sisterhood between Taiwan and Arkansas, whose capital, Little Rock, is also a sister city of Taiwan's Kaohsiung City.
This was Governor Huckabee's fourth visit to Taiwan, and his visit to the Office of the President was accompanied by Taiwan's Deputy Foreign Minister Michael Kau. Secretary-General Mark Chen was also present in the meeting.