(President Tsai delivered remarks in English)
I am pleased to transit again through Los Angeles and am touched by the very warm welcome from the Taiwanese American community. Let me thank you, Acting Governor [Eleni Kounalakis of California], for welcoming me and arranging the beautiful California sunshine, and thank you distinguished members of the Congress, Congressman Brad Sherman, Congressman Darrell Issa, Congresswoman Judy Chu, Congressman Ro Khanna, Congresswoman Michelle Steel, and from the US Senate Congressman Tri Ta. We have a newcomer, that is the new AIT Chair Laura Rosenberger. And our good friends. Thank you for joining me tonight. I am grateful for your hospitality and for your friendship toward the people of Taiwan.
This morning, I was honored to meet with a bipartisan delegation of Congressional leaders convened by Speaker [Kevin] McCarthy [of the United States House of Representatives] at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library, and we had a very productive discussion on matters pertaining to our shared values and common interests: peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific, prosperity for our societies, and safeguarding freedom and democracy.
I shared with them that the people of Taiwan are resilient and are determined to defend and preserve our way of life and to deepen our longstanding partnership with the United States. I was gratified by the unity of support from the speaker and congressional leaders across the political aisle. Their gesture of standing with Taiwan is a demonstration that in this turbulent geopolitical environment, the Taiwanese people are not alone.
I believe the presence of our many guests here tonight is also testament to the fact that Taiwan, as a force for good in the world, will never be alone. And the Taiwanese American community, through its generosity and activism, has helped Taiwan build many friendships around the world, including with the special guests who are here with us tonight.
(President Tsai delivered remarks in Mandarin)
National Policy Advisors to the President Jackson Yang (楊信), Yee Phong Alan Thian (田詒鴻), and Hsieh Ching-chih (謝清志); Chinese Consolidated Benevolent Association Los Angeles Chairman Ernest K. Lee (李金生); Taiwan Center of Greater Los Angeles Vice President Ken Wu (吳兆峯); and members of our overseas community in LA, good evening!
Aside from Representative Bi-khim Hsiao (蕭美琴) and Minister of the Overseas Community Affairs Council Hsu Chia-ching (徐佳青), who delivered their remarks earlier, I would like to introduce the other members of this delegation: Minister of Foreign Affairs Joseph Wu (吳釗燮), Secretary-General to the President Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍), Legislators Chiu Chen-yuan (邱臣遠), Chen Ou-po (陳歐珀), and Chen Ming-wen (陳明文), and Deputy Minister of Economic Affairs Chen Chern-chyi (陳正祺).
I am happy to see so many members of the Taiwanese community in Los Angeles. This, my first overseas trip in three years, is primarily to visit Belize and Guatemala, with transit stops in New York City and Los Angeles on the outward and return legs of the trip.
Many of those from the Taiwanese community in attendance are from the Los Angeles area, but also many have traveled here from other places. This is my first trip abroad since beginning my second term of office. For over three years, the COVID-19 pandemic has enveloped the entire world; many people were unable to return to Taiwan, and there were many restrictions on individual movement throughout the world. Fortunately, many people from the Taiwanese community from a wide range of fields helped Taiwan and raised its global awareness.
Although Taiwan and the US are on opposite sides of the Pacific Ocean, we are all working together. When Taiwan donated face masks to countries around the world, members of the Taiwanese community in the US pitched in by donating disease prevention supplies, and when Taiwan sought to participate in the World Health Assembly, they spoke up for Taiwan. When Taiwan provided aid to Ukraine and disaster relief to Türkiye, many people donated supplies to the disaster areas in an act of unity and compassion. That is just how Taiwanese are – no matter where we are, we come together and give of ourselves, letting the world see Taiwan as a force for good. So now, when someone in the US says "I am Taiwanese," there is a sense of pride and a show of approval.
Over the past few years Taiwan has proven one thing: because we are unified, we can weather any storm. Taiwan is always improving, and although the pandemic has been a challenge for the global economy, businesses at home and abroad remain bullish on Taiwan. Over the past few years, over NT$2 trillion has been invested through our Three Major Programs for Investing in Taiwan, and during that same period, ASML Holding N.V. and Merck have also launched large-scale investment plans in Taiwan.
Taiwan ranked fourth in the 2023 Index of Economic Freedom recently released by the US-based Heritage Foundation, our best performance ever. This past February, Taiwan ranked third worldwide in the National Entrepreneurship Context Index released by the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor. In February, Taiwan ranked first in Asia in the 2022 Democracy Index published by the Economist Intelligence Unit. These achievements are a tribute to the efforts of all Taiwan's citizens, whether in Taiwan or abroad.
Taiwan is making consistent progress and continues to engage with the world, and, as I have said before, our fellow compatriots are an extension of Taiwan's national power. Over the past few days in Guatemala and Belize, I saw overseas Taiwanese hard at work like everyone present today, as well as our diplomatic personnel, technical missions, and young people doing alternative national service giving their all on the frontline to show how Taiwan can help.
For example, the hospital I visited in Guatemala, a facility the local populace had been anticipating for some time, was completed through cooperation between Taiwan and Guatemala in just 18 months. In Belize, I gained an up-close understanding of what the Taiwan technical mission's sheep and goat breeding project has achieved, and witnessed how the women's empowerment project has helped Belizean women find employment and start businesses over the past few years.
On this trip, we signed cooperative agreements with Guatemala and Belize, and we will continue to deepen bilateral exchanges. We will continue our efforts to broaden Taiwan's international space, and Taiwan will continue to make improvements so that when people in the US talk about Taiwan, it will be with an even greater sense of honor and pride.
Thank you all once again. Because of your diligence and contributions while living abroad, Taiwan has over the past few years received increasingly stronger support from the US government, Congress, and public, and Taiwan-US relations have grown both deeper and closer.
Thank you to Taiwan's many American friends for valuing and supporting Taiwan. Just this past January, we completed a second negotiating round under the U.S.-Taiwan Initiative on 21st-Century Trade, and our goal is to complete talks on this trade initiative before the end of this year. Also, Taiwan and the US will continue to engage in successive rounds of the Economic Prosperity Partnership Dialogue to further enhance our partnership. Our goal is to enter into a free trade agreement with the United States, and these negotiations and discussions are being made in preparation.
In the face of expanding authoritarianism, we must hold fast to the values of democracy and freedom, for these are our way of life. Taiwan will continue working with the US and all our democratic partners to defend our values and maintain regional peace and stability.
We will face many more challenges ahead, just as those in the audience themselves faced and overcame many challenges in the US on their way to success. No matter how many or how serious these challenges are, Taiwan will not be cowed but will find our way forward. I firmly believe that a more united, more secure, and stronger Taiwan is conducive to global stability, and that we will need to work together to become a force that can stabilize Taiwan and the world.
Thank you everyone for all you have done for Taiwan. We are all members of Team Taiwan, and we hope to garner more support for Taiwan worldwide. Let us walk together on the path of democracy and freedom, engage with the world, and do our utmost for Taiwan.