President Ma said that the relationship between Taiwan and the European Parliament in recent years has become closer and closer. He especially pointed out that the European Parliament has expressed staunch support for Taiwan with regards to a variety of international affairs. For instance, he said, the European Parliament expressed its support for the Second Chiang-Chen Talks, meetings between the heads of Taiwan's Straits Exchange Foundation and Mainland China's Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Straits. In addition, it supports Taiwan's entry into the World Health Assembly (WHA). The president said he hopes that Taiwan will achieve its goal to join the WHA next year.
President Ma pointed out that the number of Taiwan tourists visiting Japan increased significantly after Japan granted visa-free courtesies to visitors from Taiwan. Each year, Taiwan residents make 8.6 million tourist visits overseas. Since Taiwan already provides visa-free courtesies to many European Union member nations, the president said that he is confident that the number of Taiwan tourists to Europe would rise substantially if the European Union reciprocated by providing visa-free courtesies to people from Taiwan.
President Ma also expressed his appreciation to the European Parliament for continuing to adopt a ban on arms sales to Mainland China, saying that this measure is very important to Taiwan and it demonstrates that the European Parliament is concerned about the cross-strait relationship. While the animosity between the two sides is gradually decreasing, the government still hopes to foster an even more peaceful climate, enabling the Taiwan Strait to become a path of peace.
Mr. Watson said that the European Parliament places great importance on its relationship with Taiwan and is impressed with the economic and social development of Taiwan. He said that cross-strait exchanges and the four agreements signed between the two sides of the Taiwan Strait will benefit Taiwan in the future in entering international organizations. Mr. Watson stressed that Taiwan is an important economic entity in the world and that the 23 million people of Taiwan should not be excluded from international organizations.
ALDE Leader Watson was joined by Deputy Leader Marielle De Sarnez, MEP Istvan Szent-Ivanyi, MEP Johannes Lebech, MEP Francesco Ferrari, and MEP Vladko Todorov Panayotov. The delegation was accompanied to the Presidential Office in the afternoon by Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs Javier Ching-shan Hou to meet with President Ma. Also in attendance was National Security Adviser Philip Yang.