President Ma Ying-jeou met with participants in the 7th Mongolian Prosecutors Judicial Training program at the Presidential Office on the morning of April 30. The president extended a warm welcome to them on their arrival here to take part in the training course.
The president noted that he previously served as Minister of Justice and that the Ministry of Justice supervises the prosecutorial system here. As a result, he shares an affinity with the students who have come here for training. The president commented that the development of such a diverse range of cooperative relations between the ROC (Taiwan) and Mongolia, especially in the area of prosecution affairs, is something that he could not have imagined when he served in the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) and the MAC was working to promote cooperative ties with Mongolia.
President Ma said that Mongolia has achieved enormous progress since it transformed into a democracy. He said he is confident that the training activities will yield benefits in Mongolia's continued efforts to enhance democracy and the rule of law, because the program participants are all young prosecutors of outstanding ability.
The president said that when he served as MAC Deputy Minister 20 years ago, he was asked by the Mongolian & Tibetan Affairs Commission to present a briefing on Mongolia. During the meeting, the then-Premier Hau Pei-tsun decided on a number of Mongolian cooperation projects, one of which was to provide assistance for the printing of elementary school textbooks in the wake of the Mongolian government's decision to resume use of the traditional Mongolian alphabet. The president said that he thought this to be an extremely meaningful assistance project.
President Ma furthermore said that Taiwan's Straits Exchange Foundation and mainland China's Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Straits four days ago signed an agreement on joint law enforcement operations and mutual judicial assistance. The pact will enable increased interaction between the two sides on these fronts, helping to stem cross-border criminal activity. It marks important progress between the two sides, he said. The president commented that while ties between Taiwan and Mongolia have yet to develop to that stage, should there be a need in the future Taiwan would be happy to discuss an agreement with Mongolia in this area.
Banzragch Jargalsaikhan, the leader of the delegation, expressed his appreciation to President Ma for taking time out of his busy schedule to meet with them. He also forwarded to President Ma the best regards of Mongolia's prosecutor general. Mr. Jargalsaikhan said that to date over 100 Mongolian prosecutors have come to Taiwan for training, accounting for one-third of the total number of prosecutors in Mongolia, and that the courses are providing a great help to Mongolia in carrying out judicial reform. Program participants have also been impressed by the beauty of Taiwan and the warmth of its people, he said. Mr. Jargalsaikhan expressed his confidence that cooperation between the two sides is sure to continue.