President Ma Ying-jeou met on the morning of April 9 with a delegation led by Mr. John Raisian, the Tad and Dianne Taube Director of the Hoover Institution. The president, on behalf of the government and people of the ROC, welcomed the delegation to Taiwan and expressed hope that their trip would be fruitful. President Ma also called for continued cooperation and efforts to further strengthen academic, cultural, and educational ties between the two sides.
In remarks, the president pointed out that Stanford University is one of the world's most renowned academic institutions. As one of the most highly regarded think tanks in the United States, the Hoover Institute has long promoted world peace and the development of democracy throughout the world, and has made many contributions on these fronts, the president said. In particular, the Hoover Institution is home to diaries of the late ROC Presidents Chiang Kai-shek and Chiang Ching-kuo, which provide important information on modern Chinese history, he noted. The Hoover Institution, the president stated, is a must visit for international scholars researching ROC history. President Ma said his visit to Stanford in 2006 made a deep impression on him.
President Ma mentioned that in July of last year the ROC government overcame numerous difficulties to lift a ban on imports of US beef to Taiwan. This, he said, more than proved the government's determination to promote free trade between the two countries. The president pointed out that bilateral negotiations under the Trade and Investment Framework Agreement (TIFA) were suspended in 2007, and only resumed in March of this year in Taipei. The president expressed hope that both sides will effectively utilize this platform to enhance bilateral trade and economic relations using a "building block" approach. In addition, the president said, Taiwan on November 1 of last year formally became the 37th participant in the US Visa Waiver Program and the only country in the program that does not maintain formal diplomatic ties with the United States. President Ma noted that entry into the program will enable more direct and convenient interaction between the people of the two countries, adding that this constitutes an important milestone in relations between the two countries over the past century.
President Ma pointed out that in the past two years a number of senior American officials and heavyweight Congressional delegations have made visits to Taiwan, including Administrator Rajiv Shah of the US Agency for International Development, Deputy Secretary of Energy Daniel B. Poneman, Under Secretary Francisco Sanchez for International Trade at the US Department of Commerce, and Assistant Secretary of State for Economic and Business Affairs Jose W. Fernandez. In addition, in January of this year, Senator James Inhofe (R-OK) (co-chair of the US Congressional Taiwan Caucus, Senator Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) (ranking member of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, and Representative Ed Royce (R-CA) (chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee), visited Taiwan, while at the end of March, Representative Gregg Harper (R-MS) led a delegation on a visit here, he said.
President Ma stated that since taking office in 2008 he has taken a "low key, no surprises" approach to ties with the US, and this has re-established mutual trust at the highest levels. After five years of effort, the president noted, relations between Taiwan and the United States are at their best state since the 1970s. He pointed out that the US has agreed to arms sales to Taiwan on three occasions over this period, worth an aggregate US$18 billion. In addition, the two sides cooperate closely in fighting terrorism, maritime piracy, human trafficking, threats to Internet security, and nuclear proliferation. President Ma noted that former US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in November 2011 publicly stated that Taiwan is an important security and economic partner of the US, which he said clearly demonstrates the close relationship between the two countries.
With respect to the outlook for relations between Taiwan and the US, the president expressed hope that the US will continue to sell Taiwan the defensive weapons it needs, and he called for stronger bilateral military and security cooperation to ensure a military balance in the Taiwan Strait. He also called for a bilateral investment protection agreement and a free trade agreement. The president said that Taiwan wants to join the US-led Trans-Pacific Partnership within a few years, which would enable Taiwan to further take part in regional economic integration and strengthen Taiwan's economic and trade competitiveness.
The president also discussed Taiwan's efforts to participate in international affairs. He thanked the US for long supporting meaningful participation by Taiwan in the World Health Organization, the International Civil Aviation Organization, and other international activities. He also said he hopes that this visit by the delegation will increase their understanding of Taiwan, and that the United States will continue to speak on behalf of Taiwan in the international community.
President Ma mentioned that over the past five years Taiwan has successfully promoted the peaceful development between the two sides of the Taiwan Strait. The two sides have signed 18 agreements, including the Cross-Straits Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement (ECFA), and since last year Taiwan has actively pursued follow-up talks under the ECFA with counterparts in mainland China on trade in goods and services, adding that these talks are expected to yield results soon. In addition, the president pointed out, Taiwan and mainland China have signed the Cross-Strait Cooperation Agreement on Medicine and Public Health Affairs, and the two sides will hopefully be able to cooperate in the manufacture of an H7N9 flu vaccine to prevent the spread of the current outbreak. This would be in the interests of the people on both sides of the Taiwan Strait, he said.
President Ma mentioned that tensions in the region have recently escalated not only due to the dispute over the sovereignty of the Diaoyutai Islets in the East China Sea, but also because of the provocative actions of North Korea. Consequently, the president noted, last year he unveiled the East China Sea Peace Initiative, which seeks to reduce tension in the region and provide peaceful means to resolve international disputes. He reiterated that the Diaoyutais are inherent territory of the ROC and appurtenant to Taiwan. He expressed hope that the parties involved can shelve sovereignty disputes and instead focus on jointly developing the region's resources, which would help to maintain peace and stability in the East China Sea. President Ma stated that recently Taiwan and Japan have engaged in negotiations on fishing issues, adding that he hopes to reach an agreement that respects sovereignty over national territory while allowing for the sharing of natural resources.
Lastly, the president stated that on April 16 he intends to engage in an international video conference with Stanford University to help the academic community in the US better understand the role that Taiwan is seeking to play in the international community today. President Ma also encouraged members of the delegation to take time out of their busy schedules to attend the video conference.
In addition to Director Raisian, others in the delegation included Hoover Institute Deputy Director David W. Brady and Research Fellow Tai-Chun Kuo (郭岱君). The group was accompanied to the Presidential Office by Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Ting Joseph Shih (石定) to meet President Ma. Also attending the meeting were Secretary-General to the President Timothy Chin-Tien Yang (楊進添) and National Security Council Deputy Secretary-General Philip Y. M. Yang (楊永明).