President Chen Shui-bian on July 26 met with Former President Zhelyu Zhelev of Bulgaria.
President Chen congratulated Former President Zhelev on the release of a Chinese-language edition of his book Fascism. He also expressed his admiration for the outstanding leadership of the former president. He said Former President Zhelev was not only the first president directly elected by the people in Bulgaria after the fall of communism, but is also a respected politician and thinker. President Chen said he is confident that the release of the Chinese version of Fascism will be a treat for many readers.
The president said bilateral trade between the two nations last year rose sharply to US$150 million, over doubling the amount in 2004. President Chen hopes Bulgaria will follow the model of other East European nations to establish mutual representative offices with Taiwan, believing that this would help to further boost trade and commercial cooperation.
President Chen noted he met with a number of political leaders earlier this year coming to Taiwan to participate in a preparatory conference for the establishment of the Global Forum for New Democracies. Guests to the conference included Former President of El Salvador Francisco Guillermo Flores Perez, Former President of the Republic of Korea Kim Young-sam, Former President of Mongolia Punsalmaagiyn Orchibat, Former President of Poland Lech Walesa, and Former President of South Africa Frederik Willem De Klerk. The organization is expected to be formally established next year, the president said, adding that the people of Taiwan would be greatly honored if Former President Zhelev also attended. The former president expressed his willingness to pay another visit to Taiwan next year for the meeting.
President Chen expressed his gratitude to Former President Zhelev for supporting Taiwan's bid to enter the United Nations. The president said that the UN Charter proclaims the universality of membership, while over 70% of Taiwan's public supports Taiwan's application to enter the UN under the name "Taiwan." The 23 million people of Taiwan should not be deprived of their collective political and health rights. In addition, UN Resolution 2758 in 1971 did not mention that Taiwan was a province or a part of the People's Republic of China, nor did it state that China has sovereignty over Taiwan. While the UN recently rejected Taiwan's application to enter the body, President Chen said that Taiwan will not abandon its efforts or become discouraged. He said Taiwan will work even harder to achieve formal membership in the UN and the world community.