President Ma Ying-jeou met with Republic of Paraguay Chamber of Deputies Speaker César Ariel Oviedo Verdún at the Presidential Office Building on the afternoon of April 1. The president, on behalf of the government and people of the ROC, extended a warm welcome to Speaker Oviedo on his trip to Taiwan.
The president remarked that he visited Paraguay in August 2008 to attend the inauguration of President Fernando Lugo. He said that trip marked his first time he had set foot in South America and it was also his first visit to Paraguay. President Ma said that the enthusiasm and hospitality of the Paraguayan people left a deep impression on him. He also stated that the ROC and Paraguay enjoy a stable alliance, and the two engage in cooperation in the areas of agriculture, technology, aquaculture, and animal husbandry. President Ma expressed his hopes that the two countries will be able to expand cooperation projects in the future.
President Ma commented that the ROC and Paraguay both embrace the core values of freedom, democracy, and social equality. He said he is confident that these core values and cooperation projects will pave the way for bilateral relations to continue to move forward. The president said that in August 2008 he told President Lugo that the ROC is willing to continue to strengthen the bilateral relationship. At the same time, he said, the ROC does not oppose Paraguay developing an unofficial relationship with mainland China focusing on trade and economics. President Ma said the ROC and mainland China have developed extremely close trade and investment relations over the past two decades, and that we of course could not ask our allies not to engage in business with mainland China. The president stressed that the ROC deeply cherishes the formal ties it maintains with its diplomatic allies. Besides promoting existing cooperation projects, the ROC hopes to expand these initiatives in the future, he said.
The president added that Speaker Oviedo just assumed his position in March, and he recently joined the Chamber of Deputies ROC Friendship Committee to promote relations between Paraguay and Taiwan. President Ma said he is pleased that a young and promising Paraguayan politician will become a key force in promoting the bilateral alliance. He furthermore said that he hopes Speaker Oviedo's trip to Taiwan will help to promote bilateral ties and continue to add depth to cooperation and development between the two nations.
Speaker Oviedo was accompanied to the Presidential Office in the afternoon by Foreign Minister Timothy Chin-tien Yang. Also attending the meeting with President Ma was National Security Council Deputy Secretary-General Ho Szu-yin.