President Ma Ying-jeou on the evening of January 25 departed on a trip to Honduras where he will attend the inauguration ceremonies for President-elect Porfirio Lobo Sosa. The president made brief remarks at the airport before commencing his journey.
The president said that he was invited to head a delegation to Honduras, an ally of the ROC in Central America, to attend the inauguration of President-elect Lobo. The president said that he had originally intended to make a state visit to Honduras in late June last year. However, a coup d'etat was staged in Honduras in the run-up to his departure for a trip to the region, and therefore he had no choice but to cancel the visit. President Ma said that at the time during the inauguration ceremonies for Panama President Ricardo Alberto Martinelli, he encountered Honduran President José Manuel Zelaya Rosales, who had been forced to leave the country. The unstable political situation in Honduras, however, was finally resolved in November of last year when the Honduran people, in accordance with procedures set forth in that nation's constitution, elected a new president in a free and peaceful manner, he said.
President Ma said while one objective of this trip is to attend the inauguration of an ally's president, another goal is to congratulate Honduras on restoring order and demonstrating democratic values once again. Meanwhile, the president remarked that over 100,000 people have tragically lost their lives so far in Haiti, which suffered its worst earthquake in 200 years. As a result, the president said that on his return to Taiwan from Honduras, he will stop over in the Dominican Republic and meet with President Leonel Fernández to discuss measures to assist Haiti. He said he will also meet with Haitian officials to talk about post-disaster reconstruction for the country. The president stated he will also pay a visit to Chi Wang-teh, the Minister at the ROC Embassy to Haiti, as well as other embassy staff and their families, and overseas compatriots, who were evacuated to the Dominican Republic. The president said he wants to discuss with them ways to lend further assistance to Haiti.
The ROC government has already pledged to provide US$5 million in financial assistance to Haiti, and the private sector is providing nearly US$4 million in material goods. The ROC, he said, has already dispatched five rescue and medical teams to Haiti, who departed from Taiwan within one day of the earthquake, extending enormous help to the country. In the past few days, he said, he spoke over the telephone with the leader of one of the teams from Taiwan, who said his team had just rescued a Frenchman. The president said that it was very moving to hear the excitement in the voice of the team leader. President Ma furthermore said that the international media has filed many reports on the rescue efforts made by the teams from the ROC. This has enabled people throughout the world to see that Taiwan is a democratic, free, peace-loving, and humanitarian nation. This is something in which all of Taiwan's people can take pride, he said.
President Ma said the disaster in Haiti has only just begun, and that nation will require large amounts of long-term assistance. He said that we will consider this in deciding how to best assist Haiti in overcoming the difficulties it is presently facing.