Minister of Foreign Affairs Mark Chen (
"My dream is that the MOFA and Taiwan's intellectual, commercial and grassroots groups will work hard together to let the world know there is an island country on the western Pacific rim that has been fighting against authoritarian China," Chen said at the ceremony yesterday.
PHOTO: SEAN CHAO, TAIPEI TIMES
"The name of that island country is the Republic of China, which is Taiwan," he said.
Becoming foreign minister, Chen said, was like a dream come true. A long-time Taiwanese independence activist, once blacklisted by the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT), Chen announced there were three goals he would strive to achieve.
"We shall safeguard the sovereignty of our country, maintain peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait and continue efforts to take part in international organizations," he said.
Acknowledging the considerable diplomatic challenges posed by China's mounting campaign to eradicate Taiwan's international space, Chen, 68, vowed to work in his new post with the passion of a young man.
Chen served in the Department of Commerce in the US federal government for 19 years and is a former chairman of the Taiwanese Association of America. He was also a member of a Taiwanese lobby group targeting the US Congress.
"For a long time, Chen has been devoted to Taiwan's diplomacy and human rights and has made a great contribution to enhancing Taiwan's international standing," said Minister without Portfolio Hsu Chih-hsiung (許志雄), who presided over the ceremony.
Chen had been actively involved in American political life and in the overseas Taiwanese community, Hsu said.
"Taiwan's relations with the US are very important," Chen said. "Taiwan's top representative to the US must possess good language skills, have good understanding of American culture and be good at socializing."
The person to succeed Chen Chien-jen (程建人), head of the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office (TECRO) in Washington, was likely to be named before President Chen Shui-bian's (陳水扁) inauguration ceremony on May 20, Mark Chen said.
He said that he had not yet talked with Mainland Affairs Council Chairwoman Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) about whether she wanted to be the nation's next top representative in the US. Tsai has been described in some media reports as the most likely candidate to head the TECRO.
"I have learned from media reports that she seemed to have little interest invested in accepting the assignment," Mark Chen said.
He declined to answer whether he knew of other potential candidates for the representative's post.
"I was appointed foreign minister just 10 minutes ago," he told reporters after the ceremony.
In an interview with the Financial Times published yesterday, Mark Chen discussed Taiwan-US ties, suggesting that there was room for improvement in how Taiwan communicated with Washington.
"We have to search for the areas where US national interest and Taiwan's national interest overlap. We cannot just put Taiwan's interests first," he said.
Mark Chen also said Chen Shui-bian would announce plans for the Constitution on inauguration day.
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