Dominican President Hipolito Mejia Dominguez visited the legislature yesterday and was received warmly by Legislative Yuan President Wang Jin-pyng (
Wang told Mejia "welcome home," since the Dominican visitor likes to describe Taiwan as his "second home" since this is his 26th state visit.
Wang, who visited the Dominican Republic in July, said he was highly impressed with the country and Mejia's hospitality.
He said that after 60 years of diplomatic ties, there are no barriers between the two countries to prevent close exchanges because both are freedom-loving democracies.
Citing a traditional Chinese saying that "a thousand glasses of wine are not too many when drinking with a bosom friend," Wang offered to drink 26 glasses of Kaoliang with Mejia.
Mejia told Wang that he is not a born drinker, but would be happy to drink the toasts in water.
Wang also said he is honor bound to provide assistance to any plans from the executive branch, such as helping with the infrastructure development in the Dominican Republic.
Mejia said he appreciated Wang's sincerity in facilitating bilateral cooperation between the two countries and he added that the first thing he will do upon his return home is to direct his administration to work out relevant plans to seek further substantive help from Taiwan.
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