On November 14, President Chen Shui-bian received Mongolian justices who came to Taiwan to attend a learning program on justice, expressing his wholehearted welcome and admiration for their enthusiasm in studying Taiwan's experience and national development.
According to President Chen, the program is organized by Chief Justice S. Batdelger of Mongolian Supreme Court and Minister Hsu Chih-hsiung of Taiwan's Mongolian and Tibetan Affairs Commission (MTAC), with full support of President Weng Yueh-sheng of the Judicial Yuan. This event, the first of its kind, has upgraded judicial exchanges between the two countries, he said.
In the meeting, President Chen stated that he highly values the relationship between Taiwan and Mongolia. He recalled the historical moments when Taipei became Ulaanbaatar's sister city in 1997 under his mayoralty, and in 2002 and 2003 when Taiwan and Mongolia established representative offices in each other's capital.
With regard to cultural exchanges, there have been a number of new undertakings in recent years. For example, in commemoration of the 800th anniversary of the Mongol Empire this year, MTAC sponsored several cultural events in Taiwan. It also assisted the National Palace Museum in sending Mongolia as a gift 23 duplicates of the portraits of Yuan Emperors and Empresses from the museum's collections.
Concluding the meeting, President Chen expressed his hope that the seminar attendees will obtain a better understanding of Taiwan's judicial system and development, and that they will play an important and active role to further strengthen the ties between Taiwan and Mongolia after they return to their country.