President Ma Ying-jeou on the afternoon of December 10 at the Presidential Office met with a delegation of high-ranking business and commerce representatives from the United States. In addition to extending a welcome to the group, the president also expressed his appreciation to them for their contributions over the long term to promoting relations between Taiwan and the United States.
President Ma said that since the new government took office, it has worked hard to restore the mutual trust between Taiwan and the United States that had been tested over the previous eight years. In the future, he said, he hopes to see continued close commercial and cultural ties between the two countries. The president also said both sides need to continue to cooperate on security issues since this is vital for Taiwan's survival and development. President Ma said that over the past several months, Taiwan has gradually re-established mutual trust with high-ranking officials on the American side. He pointed out that the two sides have signed agreements covering bilateral investment and avoiding double taxation. These trade and investment framework agreements will serve as the foundation for a free trade agreement between Taiwan and the United States, he said. Meanwhile, the US State Department in the beginning of October notified Congress that the US administration has approved five arms procurement packages to Taiwan, which is extremely important to Taiwan. He said that both sides have gradually regained the level of mutual trust from eight years ago on these issues.
The visitors expressed their appreciation to President Ma for taking time out of his busy schedule to meet with them and also noted their support for President Ma. The delegation leader, Norman Y. Mineta, former Secretary of Commerce and former Secretary of Transportation, praised Taiwan's democratic accomplishments. He also expressed his admiration of President Ma for his efforts to improve relations between the two sides of the Taiwan Strait. Mr. Mineta said the improvement in cross-strait relations not only is highly significant for Taiwan and Mainland China, but is also important to the international community.