Mr. Wang Chung-I (汪忠一), Director General of the Investigation Bureau, Ministry of Justice and Symposium Chair;
Mr. Kao Hua-chu (高華柱), Secretary-General of the National Security Council;
Mr. Luo Ying-shay (羅瑩雪), Minister of Justice;
Mr. David Y. L. Lin (林永樂), Minister of Foreign Affairs;
Mr. John K. Young (楊國強), Director-General of the National Security Bureau;
Mr. Kin W. Moy (梅健華), Director of the American Institute in Taiwan;
Ambassadors and representatives,
Honored guests,
Ladies and gentlemen,
Good Morning!
I’m very happy to be here for today’s 2015 International Symposium on Regional Security and Transnational Crime, and on behalf of the Republic of China, I want to extend a warm welcome to each and every one of you. Taiwan’s Ministry of Justice Investigation Bureau held the first such international symposium back in 2013, and it was a resounding success. And with academics, practitioners, and experts from so many countries joining us this year, I trust that today’s symposium will be even more interesting and informative.
I. Taiwan’s efforts transform Taiwan Strait, East China Sea, and South China Sea from potential flash points to avenues of peace
Economic globalization and regional integration have already become major global trends, presenting every nation with opportunities for prosperity, as well as many challenges. And the most urgent and important of those challenges is—security. Traditionally, the biggest threats to security in East Asia have been the Korean Peninsula, the Taiwan Strait, the East China Sea, and the South China Sea, all of which have been considered potential flashpoints for armed conflict. That also makes them key factors in regional instability. Today, cross-strait rapprochement has greatly alleviated tensions in the Taiwan Strait. But sovereignty disputes in the East China Sea and the South China Sea, and other latent antagonisms, are still potential flashpoints that threaten regional security.
I first proposed the East China Sea Peace Initiative on August 5, 2012 at an event commemorating the 60th anniversary of the date the Sino-Japanese Peace Treaty entered into force. That treaty restored the sovereignty of Taiwan and the Pescadores (Penghu) to the Republic of China. And on May 26 of this year, I proposed the South China Sea Peace Initiative. Both initiatives convey the idea that although sovereignty cannot be compromised, resources can be shared. Both initiatives also call on the relevant stakeholders to replace confrontation with consultation, shelve territorial disputes, establish cooperative mechanisms, and jointly exploit maritime resources.
And our efforts have been rewarded. Thus on April 10, 2013, Taiwan and Japan signed a fisheries agreement, resolving disputes that had plagued us for 40 years. Then in 2014, a Taiwan-Philippines Agreement on Mutual Legal Assistance in Criminal Matters was signed. That agreement allowed us to set up a judicial cooperation platform that incorporates parallel investigations and evidence sharing. In addition, the ROC is negotiating a maritime law enforcement agreement with the Philippines which will prohibit the use of force in law enforcement actions, require both parties to report to the other side prior to taking any law enforcement action, and provide for the prompt release of detained vessels or crew members.
Of course, there’s much more we would like to do, and Taiwan intends to play a more active role. With the East China Sea to the north and the South China Sea to the south, Taiwan occupies a key geostrategic position. That makes Taiwan a key factor, essential to regional peace. Real, sustainable peace in the Asia Pacific region depends on peace in both the East China Sea and the South China Sea, and the stable development of global peace depends on peace in Asia.
II. Viable diplomacy paves the way for cross-strait crime-fighting and judicial cooperation agreements
Since taking office in 2008, I have devoted much time and effort to improving cross-strait relations. Our foreign policy of the past seven years uses a new thinking that deals with cross-strait and international relations simultaneously. By doing that, we hope to adopt a modus vivendi that promotes cross-strait development, and is well-received by the international community. But burgeoning cross-strait exchanges also spawned many judicial disputes and transnational crime issues, turning the two sides of the Taiwan Strait into a haven where criminals could hide to avoid law enforcement. Fortunately, after the Cross-Strait Joint Crime-Fighting and Judicial Mutual Assistance Agreement was signed on April 26, 2009, law enforcement officials on both sides finally had an institutionalized, cooperative mechanism to work with. Under that mechanism, law enforcement personnel from the two sides are cooperating more closely and comprehensively than ever before, engaging in judicial assistance, humanitarian assistance, and operational exchanges. We have filed more than 67,000 cases of judicial mutual assistance, and accomplished 55,000 of them. That’s a success rate of over 80%, which is simply remarkable.
Cross-strait judicial cooperation has left many criminals with nowhere to hide. Many avenues of escape have been closed, as criminals are no longer free to flee to mainland China or even Southeast Asia with impunity. They simply cannot evade the law. This has been an important element in our crime prevention and public security efforts.
A good example of close cooperation between the two sides of the Taiwan Strait was the bomb incident on Taiwan’s high-speed railway in April of 2013. If detonated, that bomb could have killed dozens of passengers on board, and possibly derailed the high-speed train. But through cross-strait cooperation, the suspects’ identities were confirmed on the day of the crime. And within five days, they were tracked down, arrested in mainland China, and brought back to Taiwan, a testament to the efficiency of cooperative crime-fighting.
Another good example of cooperative crime-fighting is telecom fraud, which at one point was rampant. In 2005 we registered over 40,000 cases. Last year, there were only about 10,000. And the monetary value of those scams dropped from NT$18.6 billion in 2006 to some NT$3.3 billion last year. Some of the perpetrators fled to Southeast Asia, so cooperation between Taiwan and mainland China has not been limited to just the two sides of the Taiwan Strait. The two sides have also sent investigators to third jurisdictions, and have worked together to repatriate suspects. In that sense, cross-strait cooperation has clearly had regional benefits.
So based on the principles of equality, dignity, and reciprocity, the two sides of the Taiwan Strait are working together to expand joint efforts to prevent drug crimes and insurance fraud, and have made outstanding progress in combatting fraud by transnational criminal groups, ushering in a new era in joint cross-strait crime-fighting.
And given the success of our cross-strait crime-fighting efforts, it’s no surprise that over the past seven years, we’ve also created a safer domestic environment where people can live and work in peace. Taiwan’s public safety environment is excellent, ranked No. 2 in the world, winning acclaim from the international community. The number of criminal offences has decreased by almost 40% since I took office, while the clearance rate has gone up by 11 percentage points.
III. Current geopolitical situation can learn something from our model for peaceful resolution of cross-strait disputes
Taiwan’s viable diplomacy policy, based on the principles that our purpose must be legitimate, our process must be lawful, and our implementation must be effective, has already yielded exceptional results.
We thus have firm, steady relations with our 22 diplomatic allies, and our international participation is gradually expanding. We’ve also made great progress in our relations with the US, Japan, ASEAN (the Association of Southeast Asian Nations) countries, and the European Union, even without formal diplomatic ties. Between 1997 and 2007—the year before I took office—only 54 countries and areas in the world gave Taiwan citizens visa-free status, landing visas, or other visa conveniences. But to date, we’ve added 99 more jurisdictions, for a total of 153. One of those countries, the United States, made Taiwan the 38th country in the world whose nationals have visa-free privileges. Taiwan is thus the only country in the entire world whose citizens enjoy visa-free privileges in the US in the absence of official diplomatic ties.
Cross-strait relations have also made unprecedented progress. At every level, including social exchanges, topical symposiums, tourism and travel, and economic and trade investment, we’ve seen significant growth. Tension in the Taiwan Strait is largely a thing of the past, and cross-strait reconciliation has benefitted the international community while winning widespread support. This is a shining example of resolving disputes through peaceful means, an object lesson for East Asia, and the world.
We ourselves also need to remain vigilant. The wheels of history are forever turning, and at this point in time, Taiwan occupies a key geostrategic position, standing at the very heart of Asia Pacific security, and on the frontier of global peace. Whatever the future may bring, I can assure you that the Republic of China will remain undaunted, and move ahead with courage and conviction on the path towards world peace.
IV. Conclusion
So once again, let me extend a warm welcome to all of the representatives participating in today’s symposium. I trust this will be a valuable platform for exchanging information and ideas.
Thank you very much!