President Chen Shui-bian on March 12 met with Italian Parliamentarian Gustavo Selva. Mr. Selva is also the Chairman of Italy-Taiwan Parliamentary Friendship Group. President Chen, on behalf of the ROC (Taiwan) government and people, expressed his welcome and gratitude to Mr. Selva and other parliamentarians and business leaders of the delegation for making the long journey to Taiwan.
President Chen said this is the ninth visit to Taiwan by Mr. Selva, who has been a strong supporter and friend of Taiwan. President Chen specifically cited his move to establish the Taiwan Friendship Group in 1984 and become its chairman. After a hiatus from 2001 to 2006 when he served as chairman of Parliament's Foreign Affairs Committee, Mr. Selva was elected again as a parliamentarian last year and once again began serving as chairman of the Taiwan Friendship Group. President Chen said that he expects substantive and cooperative relations between Taiwan and Italy are sure to become stronger thanks to the efforts of Mr. Selva.
President Chen expressed his gratitude to Mr. Selva for his efforts in enabling high-ranking Taiwan officials to make transit stops in Italy. For instance, he provided assistance to Vice President Annette Lu in making a transit stop in Italy in March 2002. In March 2005, President Chen himself transited in Rome on his way to attend the funeral of Pope John Paul II. While Italy originally agreed to a transit stop by Vice President Lu in December last year on a planned journey to The Gambia, the vice president ultimately was unable to make the trip. Nonetheless, President Chen still expressed his appreciation to Mr. Selva for his efforts in this regard. President Chen noted that he was delighted to present a medal to Mr. Selva on behalf of the ROC (Taiwan) government during his last visit to Taiwan, recognizing Mr. Selva's contributions in promoting friendly and cooperative ties between the two countries.
President Chen said Mr. Selva has ardently assisted Taiwan in participating in the international community. Last year, Italy no longer spoke in opposition to calls for Taiwan to participate in the United Nations. Mr. Selva also played a role in the Italian Parliament's passage of a resolution supporting observer status for Taiwan in the World Health Organization.
In terms of bilateral trade, Italy is Taiwan's fifth largest trading partner in Europe. The two countries have verbally agreed to sign double-taxation and tax evasion treaties, and first round negotiations on the pacts have been completed. President Chen expressed his hope that the two sides will continue their efforts to ultimately sign the two agreements. President Chen also said that in the spirit of reciprocity, he hopes that the Italian government will agree to provide Taiwan nationals with visa-free courtesies. Currently, Italians are offered 30-day visa-exemption entry into Taiwan.
President Chen furthermore said that support by Mr. Selva has played an instrumental role in passage of articles guaranteeing that foreign art pieces on loan will not be impounded. As Parliament's Culture Committee and other committees have approved the articles, President Chen expressed his hope that museums in both countries will now be able to engage in exchanges of artwork. This will enable the Italian public to enjoy world-class cultural relics of Taipei's National Palace Museum.
President Chen also touched on relations between Italy and China. He said that since the Tiananmen Incident, EU nations have instituted an arms embargo against China. He urged EU nations and especially the Italian government to maintain this position. He said the arms embargo should continue until China improves its human rights record.
Mr. Selva expressed his gratitude to President Chen for taking time out of his busy schedule to meet with him. He said that relations between the two countries are to a degree quite complicated. Mr. Selva said that it will not be an easy task to enable Italians to understand the present situation on Taiwan, especially on the political front. Despite these challenges, however, Mr. Selva expressed his intention to continue to work to strengthen friendly relations between the two countries.