Ungil Kebesengei ! (Good Evening!)
Thank you very much, President Remengesau and all of our good friends in Palau, for the warm reception.
Palau is a major tourism destination renowned around the world for its blue seas, perfect weather, and hospitable people. I’ve been very impressed by all of these things since stepping off the plane yesterday evening.
Taiwan and Palau have always been the best of friends. And Taiwan's indigenous peoples in particular share similar cultural traditions with the people of Palau and other Pacific islands.
The Palauan word for "hello"—Alii—means "friend" or "companion" in Taiwan’s indigenous Paiwanese, and in the Amis language, it is used to address close relatives.
The ceramic arts died out for some time in Palau, but over the past few years, Taiwan’s Paiwan ceramicist Sasunud Mavaliu (華恆明) has helped rebuild the Palauan ceramics tradition. With his assistance, dozens of seed instructors were also trained.
These stories show that the Pacific Ocean does not separate us, but bind us together, which is why we re-launched the Austronesian Forum last year, and chose Palau as its headquarters. We intend to engage in deeper, more comprehensive exchanges with our brothers and sisters throughout the Pacific region so that together, we can help our Austronesian cultures shine.
This morning, I delivered some good news to President Remengesau —this coming June, Taiwan's China Airlines will increase the number of direct flights from Taipei to Palau to four per week, so more people from Taiwan can visit this beautiful country.
Besides culture and tourism, Taiwan and Palau have long cooperated in education, healthcare, agriculture, trade, investments, and the key issue of marine conservation, and we will continue to do so.
We just witnessed the signing of a bilateral agreement on coast guard cooperation. Tomorrow, President Remengesau and I will continue to see more results of our cooperation. I also look forward to experiencing more of Palau’s natural beauty.
So once again, I want to thank President Remengesau and the First Lady, as well as our Palauan friends, for the marvelous welcome. Let’s raise our glasses for a toast: To the enduring friendship between our countries, and to a wonderful evening! Thank you!