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President Tsai Ing-wen's "Oceans of Democracy" state visit continued on the afternoon of March 23 local time with a visit to the Belau National Hospital, where she presided over a ceremony for the donation of medical equipment by the Shin Kong Wu Ho-Su Memorial Hospital ("Shin Kong Hospital") to the Palau Ministry of Health.
After the president's arrival at the Belau National Hospital, Taiwan Medical Program coordinator in Palau, Ms. Hsu Tsai-ling (許采綾), and Belau National Hospital's international coordinator, Omengkar Damien Wally, gave some background about the donation. Shin Kong Hospital Advisor Dr. Kuo-Ching Yang (楊國卿) also spoke prior to the ceremony, saying that back in September of 2007, Shin Kong Hospital President Sheng-Mao Hou (侯勝茂) was Taiwan's Minister of Health, and presided over the first Taiwan-Pacific allies summit conference on public health in Palau. Dr. Yang himself was also at the summit, sitting with Palau President Tommy Remengesau, Jr., to witness to the beginning of medical cooperation between Shin Kong Hospital and Palau.
Dr. Yang, representing Shin Kong Hospital once again, with President Tsai and dear friend President Remengesau on hand, said he was delighted to see Shin Kong Hospital take the next step in its cooperation with Palau with the building of the Shin Kong Operating Room. Since signing an MOU to become sister hospitals and facilitate hospital transfers with the Belau National Hospital, he said, the two sides have become long-term partners. This medical cooperation has brought us closer to the people of Palau, said Dr. Yang, and helped us understand the local medical mission's needs so that together, we can formulate concrete and feasible solutions.
With President Tsai and President Remengesau as witnesses, Dr. Yang and Palau Minister of Health Emais Roberts jointly conducted the ceremony for Shin Kong Hospital's donation of operating room equipment to the Palau Ministry of Health.
After the ceremony, President Tsai took questions from the media. When asked about Kaohsiung Mayor Han Kuo-yu's (韓國瑜) visit to China's Central Liaison Office in Hong Kong, the president responded by saying that the Central Liaison Office is the government body implementing the "one country, two systems" policy in Hong Kong. In arranging such a visit, she said, it invites speculation of his favoring "one country, two systems." She was unsure, however, whether Mayor Han was aware of that.
Also in attendance were Minister of Foreign Affairs Joseph Wu (吳釗燮), National Security Council Deputy Secretary-General Tsai Ming-yen (蔡明彥), Minister of Health and Welfare Chen Shih-Chung (陳時中), ROC (Taiwan) Ambassador to Palau Wallace M.G. Chow (周民淦), and Shin Kong Hospital Vice President Tzu-Jen Hung (洪子仁).
