President Ma Ying-jeou, accompanied by Vice President Wu Den-yih and Mrs. Wu, attended a banquet on the evening of March 12 for ambassadors and representatives to the ROC and their spouses to mark the Lunar New Year. The president extended his best wishes to the foreign diplomatic corps stationed here, and updated those in attendance on achievements associated with the government's efforts in recent years to promote cross-strait relations and its "viable diplomacy" policy.
In remarks, the president stated that since taking office in 2008 he has promoted a foreign policy agenda emphasizing a "prosperous Taiwan, peaceful Taiwan Strait, and friendly international relations." In the wake of efforts spanning many years, "I can now confidently say that we have accomplished this," the president said.
The president stated that over the past six years, the government has consistently sought, under the framework of the ROC Constitution, to maintain the status quo of "no unification, no independence, and no use of force" in the Taiwan Strait, and to promote the peaceful development of cross-strait ties under the "1992 Consensus," whereby each side acknowledges the existence of "one China" but maintains its own interpretation of what that means. There have been many substantive achievements as a result, including the signing of 21 agreements between the two sides, while also reaching two points of consensus. Meanwhile, the number of discrete visits made by mainland Chinese to Taiwan since 2008 has exceeded 14.16 million, with nearly four million of these visits coming last year. The number of mainland students studying in Taiwan has increased nearly 40-fold from 823 prior to President Ma taking office to over 32,000 now. In addition, the heads of the agencies on either side responsible for cross-strait affairs met last year in Nanjing, Taipei, and Beijing, addressing each other using their official titles. These examples, the president said, indicate that Taiwan and mainland China have already institutionalized communication channels, and that on the basis of "mutual non-recognition of sovereignty, and mutual non-denial of governing authority," the Taiwan Strait now enjoys a level of stability and peace unprecedented in 66 years.
The president stated that US Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs Daniel Russel in February remarked that the development of Taiwan-US relations over the past several years has been extremely constructive and that this is closely related to progress in cross-strait ties. The American official added that the United States would be pleased to see the continued development of cross-strait relations. President Ma emphasized that he is confident that the region and the world would be happy to see the United States interact peacefully at the same time with both sides of the Taiwan Strait.
Discussing the government's successes in its diplomatic policies, President Ma said that presently 140 countries and areas throughout the world offer visa-free courtesies or landing visas to ROC nationals, compared with 54 prior to his taking office. In addition, the ROC has signed youth working holiday agreements with 13 countries, which facilitates interaction between youth from Taiwan and other nations. As for the ROC's participation in international organizations and activities, the president said that the ROC last year sent a delegation to attend the World Health Assembly for the sixth consecutive year. At the same time, it has begun to participate in International Civil Aviation Organization and United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change activities. This shows that although the ROC previously lost its representation in the United Nations, the government's embrace of a policy of "viable diplomacy" has yielded achievements, proving that "viable diplomacy" is "peaceful diplomacy," he said.
He also mentioned that as president of the Republic of China, he hopes the nation can play the role of "peacemaker" in the international community. In this regard he explained that after the government achieved peace in the Taiwan Strait, it began to promote peace in other areas in the region. For instance, the East China Sea Peace Initiative that he unveiled in August 2012 urged all countries to act in accordance with international law to resolve disputes in the East China Sea in a peaceful manner. Subsequently, Taiwan and Japan signed a fisheries agreement in April 2013, resolving a 40-year fishing dispute. That agreement has allowed Taiwanese fishermen to more freely engage in operations to catch bluefin tuna and other high quality fish in the area. Meanwhile, the ROC has, under the principle that "although sovereignty over national territory cannot be compromised, natural resources can be shared," reached a three-point consensus with the Philippines on the enforcement of law at sea, which also resolved a fishing dispute between the two nations that has spanned over 30 years.
The president went on to say that the European Parliament on March 14, 2013 passed its report on EU-China relations in which it echoed the spirit of the ROC's East China Sea Peace Initiative. People to People International, which promotes international understanding and friendship, in September of 2014 bestowed its Eisenhower Medallion on President Ma in recognition of the ROC's contributions to peace in the East China Sea. The president expressed that these developments demonstrate the international community's appreciation for the ROC government's efforts at promoting regional peace.
The president then expressed his gratitude to the ROC's 22 diplomatic allies for repeatedly speaking on behalf of the ROC in international venues and stressed that the government and people of the ROC will always remember these gestures. President Ma also expressed hope for even greater friendship between the ROC and its friends and allies in order to benefit the public of all nations involved.