President Ma Ying-jeou, in the company of Vice President Vincent C. Siew, on the afternoon of May 21 met with Republic of the Marshall Islands President Litokwa Tomeing and Mrs. Tomeing at the Presidential Office. A short time later, President Ma and Vice President Siew met with Republic of Nauru President Marcus Stephen and Mrs. Stephen. President Ma, on behalf of the government and people of the ROC (Taiwan), extended a sincere welcome and deep appreciation to the visitors for leading delegations to Taiwan to take part in the inauguration ceremonies for the twelfth-term president and vice president of the ROC (Taiwan).
President Ma noted that President Tomeing made a visit to Taiwan shortly after he assumed the presidency of the Marshall Islands in January. Taiwan's Legislative Yuan President Wang Jin-pyng also attended national day festivities in the Marshall Islands on May 1. President Ma said this frequent interaction demonstrates the extremely close and friendly relationship between the two countries. He said he expects the bilateral cooperative relationship to continue in the future.
The president added that he established a sister city relationship between Taipei and the Marshall Islands' capital Majuro while he was the mayor of Taipei. At the time, Deputy Taipei Mayor Bai Hsiu-hsiung attended related activities on his behalf. The president said he looks forward to a continued expansion and strengthening of contacts and interaction in other areas in the future.
Separately, President Ma also told Nauru President Stephen that Taiwan and Nauru have consistently maintained strong cooperative ties. President Ma said that he hopes current cooperation projects will continue. If there is an appropriate need, the projects could be expanded, he said. He expressed his expectations that friendly bilateral relations will continue into the future.
President Ma furthermore said that President Stephen's visit symbolizes progress in bilateral relations and demonstrates the growing friendship between Taiwan and its allies in the South Pacific. Although Nauru may be small in size, Taiwan places great importance on its relationship with this friend, he said. The president said that in many international organizations, each country has one vote no matter its size. He said he hopes Nauru will continue to support the ROC's standpoint in international organizations and various international activities.
Marshall Islands President Tomeing and Mrs. Tomeing, and Nauru President Marcus Stephen and Mrs. Stephen were accompanied to the Presidential Office in the afternoon by Minister of Foreign Affairs Francisco H. L. Ou to meet with President Ma.