Taiwan's representative offices around the world celebrated Double Ten day Wednesday to coincide with the nation's festivities yesterday.
In New York, Taiwan's representative office hosted a gala party Wednesday, which was attended by more than 1,000 well-wishers.
Addressing the ceremony, Andrew L. Y. Hsia (夏立言), director of the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in New York, said since he assumed office more than a year ago, Taiwan President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁), Vice President Annette Lu (呂秀蓮), Premier Yu Shyi-kun and his predecessor, Chang Chun-hsiung (張俊雄), have all made transit stops in the Big Apple.
All those visits bore witness to the administration of US President George W. Bush's promise to strengthen substantive relations with Taiwan, he said.
"We appreciate the US commitment to Taiwan and look forward to seeing closer Taiwan-US ties in the future," he said.
Noting that Taiwan is more than willing to share its developmental experience with other countries through international cooperation, Hsia said Taiwan has often been denied access to such opportunities and channels because of Beijing's suppression.
Hsia urged Beijing to shelve political disputes with Taiwan and return to it the international status it is due.
Speaking on the same occasion, Gambian Ambassador to the UN Grispin Greyjohnson said Taiwan deserves a UN seat because of its contribution to the world in the security, economic and financial fields and based on the UN principle of membership universality.
Many wellwishers, including New York State Senator Toby Ann Stavinski and New York City Council Speaker Cliff Miller, also delivered congratulatory speeches at the party.
Other well-wishers included UN ambassadors of Taiwan's diplomatic allies and 10-plus countries that do not maintain formal diplomatic ties with Taiwan.
In Washington, Chen Chien-jen (
Some 2,000 dignitaries attended the gala party including US government officials, politicians and ambassadors to the US from Taiwan's diplomatic allies.
Five US lawmakers, including Senator Robert Smith and Representative Earl Hilliard, issued written statements to offer their best wishes to Taiwan.
In London, the ROC national day reception hosted by the Taipei representative office in the UK attracted more than 400 people, including members of parliament and government officials, as well as foreign envoys and representatives of international organizations stationed in Britain.
Similar parties were hosted by representative offices in Brussles, Paris, Ankara, Turkey and several other cities around the world.
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