Office of the President Republic of China(Taiwan)

President Ma Ying-jeou on the afternoon of January 14 met with a delegation of board members from Hong Kong's Tung Wah Group of Hospitals. The president recognized and expressed his admiration for the longstanding role the organization has played in medicine, education, and social service in Hong Kong.

The president noted that the Tung Wah Group has a history dating back 140 years and is one of Hong Kong's foremost charitable organizations, having over 230 service units and about 10,000 employees in a network covering hospitals, retirement facilities, and other welfare organizations. The Tung Wah Group has made outstanding contributions in these fields in Hong Kong and provides a wide range of services to the Hong Kong public, he said.

The president remarked that he was born in Kwong Wah Hospital, one of the group's hospitals, and made a visit to that hospital during a trip to Hong Kong in January 1997. During his stop there, the hospital presented him with a copy of his birth certificate, and the president said that he was quite impressed that the hospital had been able to preserve the certificate all these years.

President Ma commented that over the past two-plus years as cross-strait relations have improved, contacts between Taiwan and Hong Kong officials have also increased. He said that each side has established an economic and cultural cooperation and promotion association to serve as a new platform to jointly promote cooperation of this type.

The president also noted that the Tung Wah Group donated over three million Hong Kong dollars to the relief effort after the early August 2009 flooding and landslides that struck portions of southern and eastern Taiwan, and he expressed his appreciation for the gesture, adding that Hong Kong continues to demonstrate enormous vitality. It continues to rank high in international surveys and has many areas worthy of emulation by Taiwan. President Ma said he hopes that bilateral relations will continue to strengthen through the deepening of ties in both the private and public sectors.

Tung Wah Group Chairman of the Board Billy Leung led the delegation, which was escorted to the Presidential Office by Mainland Affairs Council Deputy Minister Te-Shun Liu to meet President Ma. Also attending the meeting was National Security Council Deputy Secretary-General Chih-kung Liu.