First Deputy Speaker of the French Senate Catherine Tasca presented the order of the Knight of the Legion of Honor to Tchen at an award ceremony in the Senate Tuesday, according to a press statement issued by Taiwan's representative office in Paris.

The medal is the highest honor in France that is conferred on locals and foreigners for professional achievements and contributions to international exchanges in various fields. It is divided into five levels, with "knight" being the most common.

Tchen is the second Taiwanese citizen to receive the award, according to data provided by the National Chiang Kai-shek Culture Center, which manages Taiwan's National Concert Hall and National Theater in Taipei City. The first recipient was the late musician Hsu Chang-hui who was decorated as an "Officer of the Legion of Honor, " which is a higher level of the order.

At the presentation ceremony, Tasca lauded Tchen for her passionate dedication to arts and cultural work over many years.

Tchen, a pianist, has also contributed much to cultural and arts exchanges between Taiwan and France, she added.

For her part, Tchen said she was honored to receive the decoration.

Noting that Taiwan's cultural and arts development has blossomed since the country's democratization, Tchen said the cultural experience she had as young music student in France profoundly influenced her throughout her career, particularly in her former post as minister of Taiwan's Cultural Affairs Council.

"Many of the policies and projects implemented during my years as Taiwan's minister of culture were inspired by my experience in France," Tchen was quoted as saying at the ceremony.

In a telephone interview with the Central News Agency, Tchen said the French decoration is not only a recognition of her work but also an affirmation that Taiwan's ecological and cultural diversity has moved the French people through years of exchanges in various fields.

According to Tchen, Taiwan presents an average of 10 performing arts programs in France annually.

Nearly 100 guests, including pro-Taiwan French parliamentarians, Taiwan's representative to France Michel Lu, French cultural celebrities and Gao Xingjian, the first Chinese winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature, attended the presentation ceremony.

(By Jou Ying-cheng, Teresa Ueng and Sofia Wu)