President Chen Meets with Scottish Parliament Speaker Sir David Steel
Taipei, Feb. 21 (CNA) Republic of China President Chen Shui-bian said Wednesday he is looking forward to traveling to Copenhagen, Denmark in November to receive the 2001 Prize for Freedom in person.
Chen expressed his wish while meeting with Scottish Parliament Speaker Sir David Steel, who is currently on a five-day visit to Taiwan.
Chen said he appreciates Liberal International's decision to bestow the prize on him. "And I believe that the award is not for me, but for the 23 million people of Taiwan," he explained, adding that the people of Taiwan deserve recognition for having used their ballots to complete the ROC's first-ever democratic transfer of power between different political parties last year.
Liberal International, a London-based association of major liberal political parties around the world, decided to award the prize to Chen at a recent meeting of its Executive Committee held in Brussels.
Steel, who served as Liberal International chairman from 1992 through 1994, said the Prize for Freedom was designed to recognize people who have contributed to freedom and democracy.
In his view, Steel said, the award is not only a personal honor for Chen but also a recognition of Taiwan's progress in freedom and democratic reform.
Steel said he also hopes that Chen will be able to personally receive the prize in Copenhagen and promised to do his utmost to help push for Chen's visit to the Danish capital.
In response, Chen said he is more than willing to travel to Denmark to receive the prize on behalf of the ROC government and people.
Nevertheless, he went on to say wryly that he is afraid he may not have the "freedom" to receive the "Prize for Freedom" because of political pressure. "And if I'm really forced to cancel the trip, it will be very ironic," he noted.
Chen said he was impressed by Steel's courage when Steel said in a public speech recently that mainland China has no legitimate right to claim sovereignty over Taiwan.
In response to Steel's remarks that senior ROC officials are welcome to visit Scotland, Chen said he really hopes to make a visit. "I hope our third meeting can take place in the Scottish parliament," he told Steel.
Chen went on to say that he likes the Hollywood movie "Braveheart," which depicts the story of Scottish nationalist hero William Wallace. "I have often recommended this film to schools," he said, adding that the people of Taiwan, like their Scottish counterparts, treasure the values of freedom, democracy and human rights.
"And it seems to me that our people have a special affection for Scotland, as more than half of Taiwan-financed companies in Britain are located there," Chen said, adding that Taiwan is now one of the four largest foreign capital suppliers to Scotland.