President Chen Shui-bian (
"I hope that our friends from northern Europe will also lend a hand to Taiwan by asking the EU and its allies not to rashly remove the arms embargo on China before it improves on democratic and human rights issues as well as withdraws its ballistic missiles and military deployments targeting Taiwan," Chen said.
"I also expect that our Nordic friends, based on their founding spirit, can assist with Taiwan's bid to enter the WHO and to participate on an equal footing in every international organization," Chen said.
Chen was speaking in a teleconference last night called "Nordic Conference on Taiwan." The teleconference gathered about 30 lawmakers from Denmark, Norway, Finland, Sweden and Iceland, speaking in Copenhagen.
Chen said that in his second term, he will continue to deepen democracy, protect human rights and enhance the market economy.
On constitutional reform, he said the current Constitution was introduced more than five decades ago and that many parts of it fail to meet the country's needs.
"Sections relating to the protection of human rights, the streamlining of government agencies and the number of legislators need to be changed in keeping with the times," Chen said.
"We will create a new constitution for Taiwan. This new constitution will have to be decided upon by the people as a whole, and shall therefore be put to a referendum," he said.
Chen also stressed that he has asked Beijing to work toward a framework for long-term, stable and peaceful interaction.
"We sincerely hope to reopen dialogue with China as soon as possible," Chen said.
Presidential Office spokesman James Huang (黃志芳) said teleconferences with Nordic countries have been held in 1996, 1999 and last year.
In the 1996 meeting, a resolution was reached to appeal to European countries to support Taiwan's achievements in democracy and human rights, Huang said.
Huang said many of the world's major democracies have voiced their support for allowing Taiwan to become a WHO member.
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