Chen says nation is ready to 'pay back' the world

President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) said yesterday that Tai-wan is more than willing to pay back the international community for the assistance it received in the past.

"As a member of the international community, we are willing to share our developmental experience and results with other countries in return for the assistance we received in our development process," Chen said while meeting with foreign delegates who are in Taipei to attend the 2002 World Freedom Day celebration activities.

Chen said Taiwan will also do its utmost to contribute to international cooperation and prosperity in the new century.

The World Freedom Day activities are organized by the Taiwan Chapter of the World League for Freedom and Democracy (WLFD). Chen met with representatives from South Korea, Senegal, Poland, the Philippines and other countries at the Presidential Office.

Chen said the organization and working agenda of the WLFD have evolved along with the general world trends. "Its focus has evolved from anti-totalitarianism to the pursuit of freedom, democracy and human rights," he noted.

Over the years, Chen said, the WLFD has achieved many remarkable accomplishments and the organization has won world recognition. He said that, with the end the Cold War, the international community is now pursuing closer cooperation between countries -- and strategic alliances on the principles of reciprocity and equality.

Chen said the terrorist attacks in the US on Sept. 11 has further shown the importance of international cooperation in safeguarding world peace and security.

As a member of the world society, Chen said, Taiwan would work even closer with other countries to promote world peace, cooperation and prosperity.

Taiwan recently passed new foreign-aid legislation

However, a measure requiring that all foreign-aid recipients have clean human rights records was rejected, due to the inability, on the part of lawmakers, to agree on a baseline for what an adequate human-rights record would look like.

Still, in the final version of the bill, the committee added language stating that part of the goal of Taiwan's foreign aid programs should be the promotion of human rights.

The bill, passed in January, is the first comprehensive law governing official foreign aid programs. It streamlines and clarifies the way foreign aid programs will be administered.

The bill requires that future aid project proposals stipulate their purpose, principle and scope.

Critics have long regarded Taiwan's foreign aid practices as "pouring money down a black hole," because recipient countries -- the majority of which are less-developed states -- often lack the social and political ability to enable them to use the aid effectively.