President Chen Shui-bian on April 23 met with members of the visiting Mongolia-Taiwan Association, which is being led by Mongolian Parliamentarian Aukhetai Murat. The president expressed his warm welcome and gratitude to the delegation on behalf of the government and 23 million residents of the ROC (Taiwan).
President Chen said that the close and frequent exchanges between Taiwan and Mongolia are in large part due to the efforts made by former Ulan Bator Mayor Janlav Narantsatsralt. The president said that in 1997 while he was still Taipei City Mayor, Ulan Bator Mayor Narantsatsralt headed a delegation to Taiwan and inked a sister city agreement with Taipei City. In April 1999, after he no longer was mayor, President Chen went to Ulan Bator on a tour to better learn about Mongolia. It was at that time that the Mongolia-Taiwan Association and the Taiwan-Mongolia Association were established. He said the organizations have made enormous contributions to friendly ties between the two countries and helped pave the way for the establishment of representative offices by each country in the other.
President Chen furthermore said that after he was elected as president of the ROC (Taiwan) in 2000, work was initiated to amend laws, enabling Taiwan to formally recognize Mongolia as a sovereign nation and not as part of the Republic of China. In June 2002, the two countries formally signed an agreement to establish representative offices in each other's capital. In July 2002, the Taipei Trade and Economic Representative Office was established in Ulan Bator, followed by the formal opening of the Ulan Bator Trade and Economic Representative Office in Taipei in January 2003. He said the opening of the offices has enabled further development of close ties between the two countries.
President Chen said that in recent years, the two countries reached an agreement on labor cooperation and have also inked a memorandum on cooperation in the area of health. The two countries are presently negotiating agreements on technology cooperation, investment promotion and protection, and emergency relief. Currently, over 100 Mongolian laborers work here and have made a significant contribution to Taiwan, the president said. He added that he hopes even more Mongolian laborers will be brought to Taiwan in the future and that manpower training projects will be further developed. President Chen also noted Mongolia's first democratically elected president, Punsalmaagiyn Ochirbat, and his wife visited Taiwan earlier this year to attend a preparatory meeting for the Global Forum on New Democracies that was held in Taipei in late January. He said that Former President Ochirbat's presence made the meeting much more meaningful.
President Chen also stressed to the guests that health, disease, sanitation and disease prevention know no borders. He said that the collective rights to health of the 23 million people of Taiwan should not be ignored. It is for this reason that Taiwan is aiming to enter the World Health Organization under the name "Taiwan." The president said he hopes that after the guests return home, they will push the Mongolian government to support Taiwan in its efforts to join the WHO. He also called for the establishment of a Taiwan Friendship Group to promote substantive and friendly ties between the two countries.
The visiting delegation included Parliamentarian Aukhetai Murat, Parliamentarian Jamyandorj Batkhuyag, Ms. Mahgal Altantsesteg, the wife of the director of the Mongolia-Taiwan Association, Mr. Erdenebat Nadinzurkh, and Mr. Soyombo Narantsatsralt. The delegation was accompanied by Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs Javier Ching-shan Hou to the Presidential Building in the afternoon to meet the president. Also in attendance was Deputy Secretary-General to the President Chen Chi-mai.