President Ma Ying-jeou met with United States Congressman Lincoln Diaz-Balart, Co-Chair of the Congressional Taiwan Caucus, on the afternoon of March 31 at the Presidential Office. The president, on behalf of the government and people of the ROC (Taiwan), expressed a warm welcome to Congressman Diaz-Balart and members of the delegation he is leading on their visit to Taiwan.
The president said that he met with Congressman Diaz-Balart and his brother Mario Diaz-Balart when they visited the Presidential Office in April of last year and they held cordial discussions. The president remarked that Congressman Diaz-Balart has been a longstanding friend to the ROC. Besides participating in activities related to the 30th anniversary of the Taiwan Relations Act last year, the president said that Congressman Diaz-Balart also has advocated the sale of F16-C/D fighter jets to Taiwan. At the same time, he has supported Taiwan's participation in the activities of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and the International Civil Aviation Organization. The president expressed his deepest appreciation to Congressman Diaz-Balart for his friendship and support.
President Ma remarked that since Congressman Diaz-Balart's last visit to Taiwan, the ROC in the latter half of May took part in the World Health Assembly, marking the first time that the nation has participated in an activity of a UN-affiliated organization since it left the UN 38 years ago. The president said that Taiwan suffered serious flooding and landslides in August last year when Typhoon Morakot swept through. The United States dispatched military aircraft to Taiwan to aid in rescue work. Meanwhile, in January of this year, the US administration agreed to the sale of US$6.4 billion of arms to Taiwan. President Ma said that both of these moves have deeply touched the people of Taiwan, who can sense the friendship and support of the United States.
Congressman Diaz-Balart said that he is deeply honored to have another opportunity to meet with President Ma and to be a friend of the ROC. He added that he will continue to provide every assistance possible to help relations between the two nations continue forward.
The delegation led by Congressman Diaz-Balart included Ana Carbonell, an aide to the congressman, as well as Octavio Hinojosa-Mier, Executive Director of the Congressional Hispanic Leadership Institute (CHLI). Deputy Foreign Minister Lyushun Shen escorted the delegation to the Presidential Office to meet with President Ma. Also in attendance was National Security Council Deputy Secretary-General Ho Szu-yin.