Your Excellency Antonio Quintas, Ambassador of Sao Tome and Principe, and Head of the African Group of Ambassadors and Representatives;
Excellencies Ambassadors and Honorable Representatives;
Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Simon Shen-Yeaw Ko (柯森耀);
Distinguished guests;
Ladies and gentlemen:
Good evening! Bonsoir! Boa noite!
It is a great pleasure to be here at the 2014 Africa Day reception. It was 51 years ago today—on May 25, 1963—that 32 African leaders gathered in Addis Ababa, the capital of Ethiopia, to establish the Organization of African Unity. On July 9, 2002, that organization was replaced by the African Union which, along with the European Union, today stands as a fine example of large-scale regional integration, and lights the way forward for unity, cooperation, and development in Africa.
The huge distances that separate the Republic of China and Africa have not hindered our cooperative exchanges and interactions, which have, in fact, grown increasingly frequent over the years. I myself this year took up the invitations of two African heads of state and led a delegation to Sao Tome and Principe on January 24, and then visited Burkina Faso on January 25. This was done to strengthen the cordial relations between the Republic of China and our diplomatic partners in the region, as well as to gain a firsthand understanding of the cooperation programs we have had. We were warmly greeted and made to feel very much at home.
While we were in Sao Tome and Principe, we had the opportunity to see for ourselves how the Republic of China government and private sector go about sharing Taiwan's experiences with our African allies and friendly countries. We have undertaken cooperative projects that cover a wide range of areas, including healthcare, notably malaria eradication. As you know, we have almost eradicated malaria in Sao Tome and Principe. The projects also cover vocational training, infrastructure (such as power plants), agriculture, fisheries, animal husbandry, and education (such as high school expansion). These projects have produced very positive results.
Let me give you a story on the lighter side. I remember how, on the second day of my visit to Sao Tome and Principe, I toured a high school. At the school gym, I gave 30 soccer balls as a gift to the school. The school arranged for me to do a 12-yard penalty kick, with the school team's goalkeeper defending. I gave the ball a hard kick, and the ball instantly sailed into the upper right-hand corner of the goal. It took everyone by surprise, and they all cheered. It's just lucky that I used to play on the soccer team in high school and university. I was just a so-so player. I didn't play very well, but at least I can handle a 12-yard penalty kick okay.
Our delegation continued on from there to Burkina Faso. We stayed in the capital for only five hours, but we had a thoroughly enjoyable dinner with President Compaore and the First Lady. Many of the dishes that evening were personally prepared by Mrs. Compaore herself, and the rest were done by a chef working under her direction. It was all quite delicious.
During the dinner, we discussed the civil war that had taken place two years before in Mali, Burkina Faso's neighbor to the north. The war had driven about 40,000 refugees across the border along with their livestock, which put Burkina Faso under a lot of pressure. After two years, thanks to the intermediation of President Compaore, a ceasefire accord was concluded in Mali and elections were held. That was a tremendous success, and President Compaore truly qualifies as a pre-eminent leader in Western Africa. His leadership skills are really very impressive.
By the way, there was another warm and interesting episode that was also very memorable. When I finished my visit to an elementary school on the second day in Burkina Faso two years ago, I was greeted on my way out by the chief of the village in the neighborhood. The village chief was so friendly to Taiwan that he wanted to give me a souvenir. Then he asked his staff to take a beautiful white horse to me. I was surprised that he must have known that my family name Ma means "horse" in Chinese, or he must have thought that I must have a horse range at home. I told him to keep the horse for a day or two so that I could talk to my wife to decide what we should do with the horse. I called home that evening, and my wife's response was, "Great! Take it home. I've always wanted a horse." I asked her how I could take the horse home. She said, "You just ride it home yourself." You see, ladies and gentlemen... Thank God, what a great wife I have at home!
Just recently, Swaziland's Prime Minister Barnabas Sibusiso Dlamini and Mrs. Dlamini visited the Republic of China and gave us the good news that Swaziland has opened a new international airport and completed phase-one construction of a biotechnology park. With success stories like these, we are encouraged to expect even bigger and better results from our bilateral cooperation in the future. The prime minister also told me that ever since Swaziland's King Mswati III ran 3,200 meters with me two years ago, he has developed a keen interest in exercise. Ever since then, he has been jogging every day to control his weight, and has also been using an electronic bathroom scale that measures body mass index (BMI). The king asked Prime Minister Dlamini to tell me that he is planning to have a foot race with me the next time we get together. In return, I also asked the prime minister to tell the king that if he really wants to outrun me next time we meet, he has to lose more weight.
Also, to meet our diplomatic allies' need for top quality talent and to promote international exchanges among our young people, our Ministry of Foreign Affairs provides the Taiwan Scholarship to students from our allies and other friendly nations, so that they can come to Taiwan and study in both degree and non-degree programs. This year, 190 students have been selected, an increase of 32 over the 158 people who came last year. And 25 of them hail from Africa. To date, some 700 students from more than 70 countries have received the Scholarship, which has proven to be quite successful.
Since taking office, I have been promoting a policy of "viable diplomacy," the goals of which include strengthening economic and trade relations between the Republic of China and the international community, exploring business opportunities for our enterprises, and creating a road map to prosperity.
We have also seen our bilateral exchanges expand rapidly in the fields of culture, tourism, education, healthcare, communications, and science and technology, which has boosted our substantive ties.
The Republic of China's diplomatic allies in Africa have always valued the assistance and care that the 23 million people of Taiwan have provided to them. They have also, without fail, spoken up for us in the international community, showing their sincere and heartfelt support for our participation in the specialized agencies of the United Nations and other international organizations.
This morning I just got an email from our health minister, who just returned from participating in the World Health Assembly in Geneva the last couple of days. Minister Chiu told me that this time our people have expanded their contacts, not only in the technical sessions of the conference, but also established bilateral contacts with the health ministers of many more countries.
Let me just conclude my remarks. I think you know that the Republic of China believes strongly in freedom, peace, equality, and justice, and we hope to develop closer ties with other countries that share the same core values. I would like to take this opportunity to express my deepest appreciation to Your Excellencies Ambassadors and Honorable Representatives for all that you have done in the service of promoting our bilateral relations. I hope you will all continue to support the Republic of China as we seek to expand our friendships and cooperative ties in Africa.
In closing, I would like to invite everyone to join me in a toast: to the unity, prosperity, and stable development of the African Union, and to the health and happiness of our ambassadors, representatives, and distinguished guests! Merci beaucoup! Obrigado! Thank you very much.