President Ma Ying-jeou met on the afternoon of October 10 with US Congresswoman Madeleine Z. Bordallo, Ranking Democrat of the Subcommittee on Readiness of the House Armed Services Committee. In addition to explaining ROC-US relations to the visitors, the president also called for even deeper interaction in a wide range of fields.
The president stated that Congresswoman Bordallo serves on the US House Armed Services Committee and is also a member of the Congressional Taiwan Caucus. She is one of the ROC's staunch friends in the US Congress, supporting a wide range of resolutions friendly to the ROC, such as the signing of resolutions affirming the importance of the Taiwan Relations Act (TRA) and supporting Taiwan's meaningful participation in the International Civil Aviation Organization and INTERPOL. In addition, Congresswoman Bordallo has served the people of Guam for over 30 years since she became senator in 1981. Upon concluding her tenure as Guam's lieutenant governor, in 2003 she started to serve in the House of Representatives for seven consecutive terms. Last year, ROC nationals made over 50,000 visits to Guam, which set a new high, more than any other country except Japan and Korea. This shows that the public here is fond of Guam.
Commenting on ROC-US relations, the president said that in recent years the two countries have made progress in cooperation in terms of economics and trade, security, and other areas. US President Barack Obama, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, and current Secretary of State John Kerry have commented on bilateral relations in a positive light, saying, for example, that Taiwan is "an important security and economic partner" of the United States. Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs Susan Thornton, in an address at the Brookings Institution, also stressed how good Taiwan-US relations are and referred to Taiwan as a vital partner of the United States in East Asia. All of these remarks demonstrate that the US places great importance on its ties with Taiwan.
The president pointed out that the ROC and US have collaborated closely on security issues. Over the past seven years the US has sold the ROC over US$18.3 billion worth of arms, the highest amount in the past two decades and double the amount that the US sold to the previous ROC administration. The United States last year also agreed to sell the ROC four Oliver Hazard Perry-class frigates. In addition, when screening the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2016 this past May, both the US Senate and the House of Representatives supported strengthening military interaction between Taiwan and the United States, along with inviting Taiwan to participate in the Rim of the Pacific Exercise (RIMPAC) and Red Flag training exercises. These moves are unprecedented and demonstrate that the US administrative and legislative branches are upholding the TRA and the Six Assurances, and fulfilling the US security commitment to Taiwan, said the president.
As for bilateral economic and trade ties, President Ma stated that the ROC last year surpassed India and Saudi Arabia to become the tenth largest trading partner of the United States. Meanwhile, the US vaulted past Japan to once again become Taiwan's second largest trading partner. In March of 2013 Ambassador Demetrios Marantis, former Deputy US Trade Representative (USTR), visited the ROC for the seventh round of negotiations under the Trade and Investment Framework Agreement (TIFA), which was a resumption of bilateral talks under the TIFA framework. Last year the ROC delegation met with Acting Deputy USTR Wendy Cutler for the eighth round of negotiations, and the ROC on October 1 of this year invited Deputy USTR Robert Holleyman to Taiwan for the ninth round. The two sides have held three rounds of talks since TIFA negotiations resumed. In addition, after intensive talks, substantive negotiations for the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) have been completed, and the ROC might have an opportunity to participate in the second round of TPP negotiations, said the president.
President Ma then mentioned that the ROC and the US also continue to strengthen cooperation in culture, education, and environmental issues. For example, in November of 2012 the United States included the ROC in its Visa Waiver Program, greatly increasing the number of Taiwanese visitors to the US. The two countries, starting in December 2012, also began jointly promoting the Pacific Islands Leadership Program, providing intensive training to young leaders with potential in government or NGOs from Pacific Islands, and a number of concrete achievements have been seen in this respect. On April 14 of last year, US Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Gina McCarthy came to the ROC for the launching of the International Environmental Partnership, which allows partners throughout the world to share the US and Taiwan's experiences and knowledge about environmental protection. All of these examples show that bilateral relations are now the best they have ever been since the TRA was enacted, the president stated.
Lastly, President Ma shared a little story regarding ROC-US ties with the visitors. The president said that 36 years ago the US established diplomatic relations with mainland China and ended its diplomatic relationship with the ROC. Studying for his doctorate at Harvard at that time, the president said he recalls his thesis advisor, Professor Detlev Vagts saying, "Taiwan is the most recognized unrecognized country of the United States." Also at that time, American scholar Carl Gable commented that then US President Jimmy Carter's move to establish relations with mainland China and break ties with Taiwan amounted to a "de-recognition of Taiwan" by the executive branch. Congress's enactment of the TRA, however, was tantamount to "legislative re-recognition of Taiwan." This move helps the US administrative and legislative branches uphold the spirit of the TRA, thus maintaining cordial relations with Taiwan.