President Chen Shui-bian left on a journey to the Republic of Nicaragua on the evening of January 8 to attend the inauguration of President-elect Daniel Ortega. The president made remarks before embarking on the trip, labeled as the journey of "Joint Prosperity and Continued Friendship."
On his trip to South America, President Chen will make an overnight stop-over in San Francisco, California before he continues on to Managua, Nicaragua. After attending the inauguration, he will return to Taiwan after a brief transit stop in Los Angeles, California. President Chen is expected to return to Taiwan late at night on January 12.
President Chen said that the theme of this journey is "Joint Prosperity and Continued Friendship." He hopes that the two nations will use their existing foundation of friendly relations to further strengthen bilateral exchanges and interaction, creating even more wellbeing for the people of the two countries. President Chen said he believes his leading of a delegation to attend the inauguration will further solidify friendship between the two countries. The president will also take advantage of the opportunity to meet and exchange opinions with the heads of state of other diplomatic allies in Central and South America.
President Chen furthermore said that pressure by China has long made it quite difficult for the ROC (Taiwan) to carry out its diplomatic agenda, especially as China has sought to woo Taiwan's diplomatic allies and further isolate Taiwan. He said China attempts to use a variety of means to completely prevent any room for survival for Taiwan in the international community.
In light of these serious challenges, Taiwan can follow one of two routes. The first is to give up, succumb to others and wait for its own end. The other is to courageously step out, enable the international community to see the reality that Taiwan is a sovereign nation, and let the world understand that the two sides of the Taiwan Strait are entirely different countries, President Chen said.
If everyone believes we cannot sit idly by and wait for our demise, we need to take action and overcome the barriers that China has set for us in the international arena, he said. The president said everyone needs to have faith in the government and support the government's diplomatic initiatives.
Lastly, President Chen thanked those responsible for their hard work in making this journey a success. He also expressed his gratitude in advance to the government of the United States for offering him assistance and courtesies during his transit stops in America.