President Ma Ying-jeou met with a delegation of political and policy experts from the Republican Party of the United States on the morning of April 14 at the Presidential Office, and extended a warm welcome to them on their visit to Taiwan.
The president said the ROC (Taiwan) government maintains contact with many US political parties. Over the past eight years, the Republican Party and the Kuomintang have had extremely close contact, he said. This has especially been the case since March 22 of last year when he received a congratulatory message from US President George W. Bush that was sent following the outcome of the presidential election here. In the message, President Bush not only offered his congratulations and praised the election as fair, but also said that "Taiwan is a beacon of democracy to Asia and the world."
President Ma furthermore remarked that several days later on March 26 President Bush and Mr. Hu Jintao from mainland China spoke over the phone and discussed an important principle regarding cross-strait relations, namely the "1992 Consensus." The following day, mainland China's Xinhua news agency reported that Mr. Hu mentioned that both sides of the Taiwan Strait accept the one China principle, but that each has a different definition of that China. This is the so-called "1992 Consensus" and "one China, respective interpretations." Mr. Hu expressed his position on this in the phone call with President Bush. This helped pave the way for a quick resumption of cross-strait negotiations, which has led to the launch of the "Three Links" between the two sides and further normalization of economic relations.
President Ma said that the people of Taiwan were pleased by President Bush's notification to Congress in October of last year of the US administration's decision to sell a package of arms to Taiwan. This is enabling the security relationship between the ROC (Taiwan) and the United States to move forward in a stable manner, he said. The United States not only is concerned about Taiwan's security, but also is providing assistance in this regard, the president commented.
The president noted that Taiwan was removed from the Special 301 Watch List prior to President Bush's leaving office, adding that this signifies Taiwan has turned a new page in the protection of intellectual property rights. President Ma said that he appreciates the goodwill and friendship exhibited by the Bush administration toward the ROC (Taiwan) even in its final days in office.
The members of the delegation expressed their gratitude to President Ma for taking time out of his schedule to meet with them, and said that the Republican Party will continue to closely watch the future development of Taiwan and political parties here. Contact and interaction between the two sides will foster mutual understanding and further bolster relations between the two countries, they said.