Ma was making his first visit to the Marshall Islands, kicking off a weeklong island-hopping visit to Taiwan’s six diplomatic allies in the Pacific.
During the brief five-hour visit in Majuro, Ma highlighted the contribution of Taiwan mobile medical teams that visit this western Pacific nation twice annually.
“To see the patients’ faces after surgery encourages our people to do more (for the Marshall Islands),” he said at a gathering with doctors and 38 patients who have received cataract surgery over the past week in Majuro.
“One patient told me he had been suffering from cataracts for three years, and after surgery was amazed that he can see again,” Ma said. “I was touched by his words and happy our mobile medical team can help.”
In a separate ceremony, Ma joined Marshall Islands President Jurelang Zedkaia in planting trees next to the country’s government building complex, and then they ate lunch with several hundred Marshall Islands and Taiwan government and business leaders.
Zedkaia called the “special relationship” with Taiwan a “true partnership” between the two nations.
He thanked Ma for his country’s contribution to development projects and a national trust fund, funding that has helped the national airline get its planes repaired and back to service, scholarships for local students, and numerous other projects in agriculture, fisheries, and vocational training.
Taiwan injects $10 million annually to the Marshall Islands national budget in addition to supporting agriculture and aquaculture projects, medical aid, and other assistance that make Taiwan the country’s second largest donor of aid behind the United States.
“We want to increase and expand the scope of our cooperation so the people of Taiwan and Marshall Islands benefit from it,” Ma said. Taiwan diplomats said that Ma is particularly keen to step up youth exchange visits between the Pacific and Taiwan, and to increase the number of college and training scholarships provided to the islands.
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