On July 19 at the Office of the President, President Chen Shui-bian met with a total of nine members of the Canadian Parliament (MP), to whom he said he hoped the Canadian government could include Taiwan into the list of its General Preferential Tariff (GPT) as soon as possible.
Since some Asian economies like Hong Kong, South Korea, and Singapore have been included in the list, the exclusion of Taiwan from GPT is, comparatively speaking, "beyond reason," the president told his guests.
Also, he hoped the Canadian government could grant Taiwan tourists visa-free privileges as the Japanese government has done earlier.
However, the president thanked the Canadian parliament for having passed six resolutions in three consecutive years in support of Taiwan's bid to participate in the World Health Assembly. He also appreciated Canadian MPs' concerns over China's passage of the Anti-Separation Law and the disputes in the Taiwan Strait.
Regarding his guests' urge to lift Taiwan's ban on the import of Canadian beef, the president suggested that the Canadian government provide Taiwan evidence-based data as soon as possible so as to facilitate Taiwan's trial and test procedures.
These MPs, representing Canada's ruling party (Conservative) and oppositions (Bloc Quebecois, New Democratic, and Liberal), included Jay Hill, Leon Benoit, Cheryl Gallant, Dean Allison, Robert Carrier, Peter Julian, Yasmin Ratansi, Sukh Dhaliwal, and Dave Van Kesteren. Their visit to the Office of the President was accompanied by Taiwan's Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs Francisco L.Y. Hwang, and Deputy Secretary-General to the President Liu Shyh-fang was also present in the meeting.