President Chen Shui-bian met with Deputy US Trade Representative Karan Bhatia on May 26 at the Office of the President. In the meeting, the president suggested the United States seriously consider signing a free trade agreement (FTA) with Taiwan as soon as possible.
The president told his guest that, while the US is promoting to sign FTAs with Singapore, Australia, Thailand, Malaysia, and Korea, it should also seriously consider including Taiwan into the list, which will be beneficial to its trade integration and cooperation with the Asian Pacific region.
The president emphasized to his guest that to promote the signing of a Taiwan-USA FTA does not involve political calculations but focuses on economic and trade interests, adding that this issue has become the common goal among all the political parties in Taiwan.
Regarding the cross-strait issue, the president told his guest that the cross-strait trade should be first normalized in order to pursue stable overall cross-strait relations. "Although China suppresses, blocks and boycotts Taiwan in politics and diplomacy, the cross-strait trade shows no sign of regression or contraction," the president said, adding that "Taiwan is open to, and actively participates in the global market, including China."
Therefore, he emphasized that the principle of "proactive management with effective liberalization," which guides Taiwan's cross-strait policy, is not a dichotomy between "opening up" and "tightening up."
As the highest US official to visit Taiwan in six years, Bhatia led a delegation to attend the fifth Taiwan-US talks on the Trade and Investment Framework Agreement (TIFA). Regarding this meeting, the president also told his guest that Taiwan is willing to face the issues that are of the two countries' highest interests, including agricultural products, pharmaceutical pricing, telecommunication, and the intellectual property right. The president also wished the TIFA talks great success.
Bhatia's visit to the Office of the President was accompanied by Stephen Young, director of the Taipei Office of the American Institute in Taiwan, and Hwang Ing-san, Taiwan's Minister of Economic Affairs. Secretary-General to the President Mark Chen and National Security Council (NSC) Secretary-General Chiou I-jen were also present at the meeting.