Office of the President Republic of China(Taiwan)

On the morning of April 16, President Tsai Ing-wen met with a delegation led by Congress and Senate President Silvio Adalberto Ovelar Benítez of the Republic of Paraguay. In remarks, President Tsai thanked the Paraguayan government for speaking up for Taiwan at numerous international venues, which lends important support to Taiwan's engagement with the world. The president pointed out that Taiwan and Paraguay are achieving remarkable results together in several areas, such as education, healthcare, agriculture and animal husbandry, and women's empowerment. She expressed hope that our two countries continue to deepen exchanges and further the well-being of our peoples.

A translation of President Tsai's remarks follows:

I am very pleased to welcome back to Taiwan Paraguayan Senate President Ovelar. I would also like to welcome Second Vice President of the Senate Hermelinda Alvarenga de Ortega and Senator Pedro Alejandro Díaz Verón, both members of the Paraguayan Parliamentary Commission of Friendship - Republic of China (Taiwan).

Our guests today are all good friends of Taiwan. So I would like to take this opportunity to thank the Paraguayan government and Congress for their condolences following the earthquake in Taiwan earlier this month. Taiwan and Paraguay have continued to deepen our partnership over these past eight years. I still remember that my first state visit after I first took office in 2016 was to Paraguay. And I visited Paraguay again in 2018. The natural beauty of your country and the warmth of your people have left a deep and lasting impression on me.

These past several years, I have met quite a few of our friends from Paraguay. Last year, then President-elect Santiago Peña Palacios visited Taiwan not long after his election victory. And later that year, Vice President Lai Ching-te attended President Peña's inauguration on a visit to Paraguay. Over these and other exchanges between our countries, our friendship has continued to grow deeper.

Taiwan and Paraguay are achieving remarkable results together in several areas, such as education, healthcare, agriculture and animal husbandry, and women's empowerment. And particularly in education, we have jointly promoted the Taiwan-Paraguay Polytechnic University project, which is fostering top-tier technology and industry talent. The university is a point of pride for both our countries.

We have also seen President Peña and the Paraguayan government speak up for Taiwan at numerous international venues. On behalf of the people of Taiwan, I want to thank Paraguay once again for its support. Your actions lend important support to Taiwan's engagement with the world.

Lastly, I look forward to our guests today continuing their support for Taiwan in Congress and pushing for more exchanges between our countries in various areas, which will help further the well-being of our peoples and give the world a model of how democracies can engage in mutual support.

Senate President Ovelar then delivered remarks, thanking President Tsai again for the warm welcome she gave to his delegation. When he last led a delegation to Taiwan five years ago, he said, he received the same enthusiastic welcome. The senate president noted that his delegation this time includes Paraguay Ambassador Carlos Fleitas, as well as Second Vice President of the Senate Alvarenga, who is also the chair of the Congressional Commission on Culture and Education, and Senator Díaz Verón, who is the chair of the Congressional Commission on Energy, Natural Resources, Population, Environment, Production, and Sustainable Development.

Senate President Ovelar, referring to President Tsai's earlier remarks, said that over the past few years Taiwan and Paraguay have indeed made closer and deeper ties, in both the feelings we share and our relationship as brothers, and that for him, being in Taiwan feels just like being at home. He noted that he had presided over the swearing-in ceremony of President Mario Abdo Benítez, which President Tsai attended, and similarly at the inauguration of President Peña, which Vice President Lai attended last year, he again presided over the swearing-in ceremony.

Senate President Ovelar emphasized Paraguay's firm support for Taiwan. At international venues, he said, President Peña always expresses Paraguay's full and firm support for Taiwan, adding that the support does not come as a result of our bilateral cooperative relationship or the projects we cooperate on in such fields as education and technology; on the contrary, the support comes from Paraguay itself and its genuine feeling of friendship with Taiwan.

Senate President Ovelar said he is confident that President Tsai must surely have sensed the deep respect and admiration the people of Paraguay expressed for her during her visits. Female participation in politics in Paraguay is on the rise, he said, and he conveyed his belief that Paraguay will in the future have a female head of state.

Senate President Ovelar also voiced confidence that President Tsai can sense the feelings the members of the delegation have for Taiwan, and that anyone who has been to Paraguay will have gotten the same impression from the locals. The senate president expressed his deepest appreciation for the deep bilateral friendship and other ties that have long existed between Taiwan and Paraguay.

In closing, Senate President Ovelar reiterated that the government and people of Paraguay are consistent and unwavering in their position on Taiwan. Moreover, he said, he is certain that bilateral cooperation between Taiwan and Paraguay will only continue to grow closer, and relations ever more lasting.