After the First Taiwan-Pacific Allies Summit, President Chen Shui-bian hosted a party with the accompanying reporters on September 5 in Palau. In the party, he said the multilateral summit meeting is different from the bilateral diplomacy Taiwan has conducted previously.
President Chen said it is clear today that many countries are working on building up relations with Asia-Pacific nations. For example, China, Japan and France have respectively held meetings and forums with Asia-Pacific countries in April, May and June this year.
President Chen said that he had only limited knowledge of the Asian-Pacific nations before, but the visit makes him understand that Taiwan and those nations are so similar and close as they share the ocean culture and democracy.
"Therefore, one year ago, we came up with the idea of shortening the distances with our Asia-Pacific allies and building up comprehensive partnerships," said President Chen. "One year after, we successfully organized the summit meeting and proved that it is the right way for Taiwan in such a difficult time."