Taipei, Dec. 1 (CNA) President Ma Ying-jeou welcomed Strobe Talbott, president of the Brookings Institution and Richard Bush, former chairman of the American Institute in Taiwan, at the Presidential Office Monday and described their visit to Taiwan as significant.

Talbott and Bush are visiting Taiwan to attend a seminar titled Cross- Strait Political and Economic Relations and the Next American Administration, arranged by the Epoch Foundation, a local research institution that seeks to integrate the resources of the private sector with the world’s best academic institutions and resources. It focuses its research on Taiwanese industrial and economic issues, regional economic cooperation and the region’s economic outlook.

“Given that the 2008 presidential election in the U.S. has just been completed and that the new administration will take office in January next year, your visit to Taiwan at this time has a very important meaning for us,” Ma said.

He also commented that Talbott is very experienced in media, foreign diplomacy and government work.

“Your work has made the Brookings Institute one of the leading and very important public policy research institutes in the United States, ” Ma added.

In addition, he also praised Richard Bush’s familiarity with Taiwan issues, Chinese affairs and cross-strait issues.

“Your book, Untying the Knot, has won wide confirmation, ” said Ma. “The developments between Taiwan and mainland China for the past three years have coincided with your predictions,” he went on.

Richard Bush is director of the Brookings Center for Northeast Asian Policy Studies (CNAPS) . His two-decade public service career spans Congress, the intelligence community and the U.S. State Department, and includes a stint as chairman and managing director of the American Institute in Taiwan from 1997 to 2002.

CNAPS conducts research, analysis and outreach to enhance policy development and understanding on the political, economic and security issues facing Northeast Asia.

Talbott, an expert in U.S. foreign relations, is a journalist associated with Time magazine and a diplomat who served as deputy secretary of state from 1994 to 2001 during the Clinton administration.

He has also been involved with the America Abroad Media Advisory Board, the American Academy of Diplomacy, the Bretton Woods Committee, the Council on Foreign Relations and the Trilateral Commission. (By Andrew Lee)