PEOPLE & EVENTS

ROC (Taiwan) hosts Double Tenth Day party

Representative (Ambassador) and Mrs. Ying Ping-Liang of the Taipei (Republic of China) Mission hosted a reception at the Lotte Hotel in Seoul on Oct 8, 2013 to celebrate the National Day of Taiwan.

There were many distinguished guests from Korean society and from the Seoul Diplomatic Corps and other segments of foreign community in Korea.

Among the Korean guests were Chairman Ahn Hong Joon of the Foreign Relations and National Unification Committee of the National, Reps. Cho Kyoung, Lee Jasmine and Hong Il, Chung Woo Taik.

Attendance from the Seoul Diplomatic Corps and other segments of foreign community was also very large, who included Ambassadors Grecia Fiodalicia Pichardo Polanco of the Dominican Republic, Gustaro Adolfo Lopez Calderon of Guatemala, Michel Idiaquez Baradat of Hoduras, Aram B. Cisneros Naylor of Panama and Ceferino Adrian Valdez of Paraguay.

Speaking to the guests, Representative Ying Ping-Liang said in part: “The Republic of China is the first democratic republic in Asia. Over more than one hundred years, Taiwan’s efforts to modernize itself have been proved to be very sustainable and consistently energetic.”.

Excerpts from the speech follow:
We are here today to celebrate the 102nd National Day of the Republic of China in Taiwan. On this significant occasion, I, together with all of our distinguished guests and overseas compatriot leaders here, have the honor and privilege to observe this extraordinary day with joyful hearts.

The ROC is the first democratic republic in Asia. Over more than one hundred years, Taiwan’s

efforts to modernize itself have been proved to be very sustainable and consistently energetic. The concepts of democracy, the rule of law, and human rights are deeply embedded in Taiwan’s society. Economically, according to a statistics by the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the Purchasing Power Parity (GDP PPP) in Taiwan amounted to US$38,749 in 2012. It ranked 19th among 187

countries polled. According to the World Trade Organization (WTO), Taiwan is the 18th largest trading nation ? the 18th largest importer and the 17th largest exporter in the world. In the Global Competitiveness Report 2013-2014 released by the World Economic Forum (WEF), Taiwan ranked as the 12th most competitive among 148 nations.

In the field of politics, the ROC has held five direct presidential elections and has experienced two peaceful changes of governing parties since 1996. This signifies how democracy in Taiwanis developing among those mature democracies. Since the election of President Ma Ying-jeou in 2008, the ROC government has actively promoted cross-strait reconciliation and successfully created the most peaceful state of cross-strait relations in more than 60 years. Through nine separate negotiations, we have signed a total of 19 agreements, including Economic CooperationFramework Agreement (ECFA), Bilateral Investment Treaty, and Agreement on Trade in Services, without compromising our sovereignty. The Cross-Strait Agreement on Trade in Servics,which awaits approval by the parliament, will further help industry in Taiwan and develop related trade opportunities. The expansion of service exports set to boost economic growth in Taiwan.

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