Office of the President Republic of China(Taiwan)

President Ma Ying-jeou met on the morning of March 17 with General Julio César Avilés Castillo, Commander in Chief of the Army of Nicaragua, and Mrs. Avilés. During the meeting the president praised General Avilés for his contributions to military cooperation and exchanges between the two nations.

The president remarked that this is the third visit to Taiwan by General Avilés. His first trip to Taiwan was seven years ago in the capacity of deputy intelligence chief, followed by a visit three years ago as Chief of the General Staff. Last year, the president noted, the ROC's Defense Minister Kao Hua-chu also made a visit to Nicaragua. This frequent interaction demonstrates how close military contacts and friendship are between the two nations. President Ma said that over the years quite a few Nicaraguan military officials have participated in training courses or studied at military academies here. The two countries maintain broad ties and education exchange at all levels of the military, from cadets to high ranking officers, he explained.

President Ma expressed special appreciation to General Avilés for his longstanding efforts to promote bilateral military cooperation, and noted that in 2004 when General Avilés served as deputy intelligence chief, he signed an agreement on intelligence exchange with the ROC's Ministry of National Defense. On this visit, the two sides will sign a memorandum of understanding on military interaction and cooperation. General Avilés, the president said, has made many contributions in forging systematic military cooperation between the ROC and Nicaragua, and in recognition of this the general was awarded the Order of Precious Tripod with Grand Cordon by ROC Defense Minister Kao on March 16.

The president mentioned that in the face of climate change and frequent global disasters, the ROC's military has designated disaster prevention and rescue as a core mission, and is actively providing training to servicemen so they can play an important role in rescue and relief efforts, which means that the military has moved beyond traditional national security issues to focus more broadly on non-traditional security issues. The president said he hopes that the ROC and Nicaragua can exchange experience in this regard.

General Avilés and Mrs. Avilés were accompanied to the Presidential Office in the morning by Defense Minister Kao and Chief of General Staff General Lin Jan-Yi to meet President Ma. Also attending the meeting was National Security Council Deputy Secretary-General Ko Kuang-yueh.