President Ma Ying-jeou on the morning of November 14 at the Presidential Office met with Carnegie Endowment for International Peace President Jessica Tuchman Mathews and Vice President for Studies Douglas Paal. The Carnegie Endowment is an American think tank headquartered in Washington, D.C. President Ma, on behalf of the government and people of the ROC (Taiwan), extended a warm welcome and expressed gratitude to the visitors for their trip to Taiwan.
President Ma said that he and the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace have had many contacts over the years. He commented that the visitors are experts on China issues and Taiwan issues, and that he is quite honored to be able to meet with them at the Presidential Building.
President Ma expressed his hopes that during their stay in Taiwan, the visitors will obtain a further understanding of the changes that have taken place between the two sides of the Taiwan Strait since the new administration here took office. He also said he hopes they will grasp the impact of these changes in Taiwan internally. Over the past half year, the atmosphere in the Taiwan Strait has gradually become more peaceful, he said. While the government is cautiously optimistic with regards to the direction of its policies, there are still a number of challenges that must be overcome. President Ma said that goodwill is being seen in the cross-strait relationships, and the two sides are gradually forming a consensus on various issues and developing mutual trust. While this trust is still quite fragile in some respects, the situation is clearly improved compared with a half year ago, he said.
President Ma stressed that with the improvement in relations between the two sides of the Taiwan Strait, signs of strengthened ties are also being seen between Taiwan and the United States, Japan, the European Union and Southeast Asian countries. After all, he said, Taiwan's objective is peace. There is no country that does not desire to see peace maintained in the Taiwan Strait, the president said. Everyone realizes that there are two potential flashpoints in East Asia, he said. One is on the Korean Peninsula, while the other is in the Taiwan Strait. Progress toward peace in the Taiwan Strait has enabled many nations to breathe easier, he said. President Ma noted that an extremely important objective of his presidency has been to turn Taiwan into a peacemaker. Taiwan and nearby areas will benefit if Taiwan proves successful in this role, he said. This will also enable many friends and allies to benefit, creating a situation in which everyone wins, the president said.
Carnegie Endowment for International Peace President Mathews, Vice President for Studies Paal and Board of Trustees members Robert Carswell, Robert Legvold and Stapleton Roy, along with Vice President for External Relations Kathleen Gerard met with President Ma at the Presidential Office in the morning. Also in attendance was National Security Council Secretary-General Su Chi.