President Ma Ying-jeou and Vice President Vincent C. Siew on the afternoon of October 8 at the Presidential Office met with Republic of Nauru President Marcus Stephen and then shortly thereafter with Solomon Islands Prime Minister Danny Philip and Mrs. Philip. President Ma and Vice President Siew expressed their welcome and appreciation to the delegations from the two countries on their arrival in Taiwan to participate in the ROC's centenary Double Tenth National Day festivities
When meeting with President Stephen, President Ma congratulated Nauru on its sixth place performance at the 14th Pacific Games held in early September. Nauru ended the competition having won eight gold medals, 10 silvers, and 10 bronzes . Given Nauru's population and land size, this was a remarkable achievement by that nation's athletes, he said. President Ma remarked that President Stephen is an expert weight lifter. Consequently, athletics has come to occupy an important position in Nauru. The president said he is confident that under President Stephen's leadership, Nauru's performance in the athletic arena will reach new pinnacles.
President Ma stated that the ROC presently is promoting the "360 Project " and the "Low-Carbon Island Project " in Nauru, and both are proceeding smoothly. The "360 Project" is designed to help Nauru within three years to produce six types of agricultural and livestock products so that the nation can achieve “zero import” goal in food supply. Meanwhile, 155 solar-powered streetlamps were transferred to Nauru in June this year under the first phase of the "Low-Carbon Island Project." The second phase of the project calls for replacing light bulbs all around the island with LED lamps, which are currently being procured, the president pointed out. He said he is confident that in the not too distant future, Nauru will become the world's first low carbon nation.
President Ma noted that President Stephen in July this year during open debate of climate change issues held by the United Nations Security Council made a statement and submitted an article to The New York Times. He urged the international community to pay attention to the impact of climate change on island nations. President Ma praised President Stephen for the outstanding argument he made, providing a comprehensive description of the challenges facing his nation and other island nations. Meanwhile, President Ma stated that President Stephen is about to assume the chairmanship of the Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS). He said that he is sure that the AOSIS will, under the leadership of President Stephen, chalk up even greater achievements on climate change topics.
Shortly after his meeting with President Stephen, President Ma met with Solomon Islands Prime Minister Philip. He remarked that the ROC and the Solomon Islands established diplomatic relations in 1983 and have since enjoyed a stable alliance. Meanwhile, cooperation projects between the two countries continue to be expanded, and currently include the fields of agriculture, industry, vocational education and medicine. The ROC, he said, is also currently promoting a project in the Solomon Islands in which it is donating baby delivery equipment to that nation.
The president stated that interaction between the two countries in recent years has also extended to the area of solar power. He said that the ROC is promoting its “Light from Taiwan” project, and has donated solar power lamps to the Solomon Islands. In addition, the ROC has also established a solar power maintenance training center and has installed solar generation equipment on the National Parliament building there, thereby assisting the Solomon Islands in becoming a low carbon island.
President Ma furthermore stated that the ROC and the Solomon Islands maintain a range of cultural and education interaction projects, via which universities and graduate schools here have established coursework for students from the Solomon Islands. Taiwan also holds the International Youth Ambassador Exchange Project and the Taiwan Study Camp for Future Leaders from Pacific Allies, enabling even more in-depth exchanges. President Ma noted that this year, one Ph.D. candidate and two master's degree candidates from the Solomon Islands will graduate from National Yang-Ming University, adding that he hopes these individuals will return to their home nation and provide service at the National Referral Hospital, creating wellbeing for the people of the Solomon Islands.
The delegations led by President Stephen and Prime Minister Philip were escorted to the Presidential Office by Minister of Foreign Affairs Timothy Chin-tien Yang (楊進添) to meet President Ma. Also attending the meeting were Presidential Secretary-General Wu Jin-lin (伍錦霖), National Security Council Secretary-General Hu Wei-jen (胡為真), and the ambassadors from the two countries to the ROC.