President Ma Ying-jeou and Mrs. Ma on the morning of May 30 spent their third day in Belize. President and Mrs. Ma first visited the Museum of Belize in the morning and were led on a tour of the museum, which was formerly a prison, by museum personnel. After they completed their visit there, the President and Mrs. Ma's motorcade headed to the airport where the Belize Minister of Foreign Affairs and the ROC Ambassador to Belize Joseph Shih Ting accompanied them while they shook hands with and said goodbye to overseas compatriots. The president and Mrs. Ma then boarded their aircraft and headed on to Guatemala.
The president's plane arrived at Guatemala City La Aurora International Airport 45 minutes later at 1:10 p.m. ROC Ambassador to Guatemala Adolfo Sun and Guatemala's Chief of Protocol boarded the plane and accompanied President Ma and Mrs. Ma down the steps. President Ma was then accompanied to the dais by Guatemala Minister of Foreign Affairs Haroldo Rodas to receive a salute from the color guard. President Ma and Minister Rodas also waved to children from the ROC Elementary School who were waving flags of the two nations.
President Ma and Mrs. Ma's motorcade then took them to their hotel, where they attended a banquet with overseas compatriots. President Ma delivered remarks to the gathering and said that this marks his first trip to Guatemala in eight years. He said that he visited the nation previously as Taipei City Mayor and at the time got together and chatted with many old friends. He said he fondly remembers the two days he spent in Guatemala then. President Ma said that he is making this trip at the invitation of President Álvaro Colom Caballeros. The president said that he is delighted to see how successful overseas compatriots have been in their business in Guatemala and the close bonds they have built with the people of Guatemala.
President Ma commented that his administration has faced many major challenges over the past year since taking office. He mentioned the financial tsunami and global economic recession as one example. While Taiwan's economic situation is far from ideal at present, the situation has improved compared with several months ago, he said. In addition, the president expressed his hopes that the economy will strengthen at an even faster pace in the days and months ahead. The government has already begun carrying out the "i-Taiwan 12 Projects" with the hope of solidifying the nation's infrastructure, he said.
President Ma furthermore remarked that the government has worked hard to strengthen relations with mainland China because that is the most difficult aspect of Taiwan's external relations. For instance, he said, the three rounds of negotiations held between Taiwan's Straits Exchange Foundation Chairman Chiang Pin-kung and mainland China's Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Strait Chairman Chen Yunlin yielded a total of nine agreements and one declaration. This has paved the way for concrete initiatives in such areas as cross-strait postal services, aviation and shipping ties, food safety, mutual judicial assistance, joint law enforcement activities, and financial dealings. Even more important, he said, is that this has largely relieved the longstanding tension in the Taiwan Strait. Both sides have shown goodwill, enabling an atmosphere of reconciliation between the two sides to be extended to the ROC's external relations in general, he said.
President Ma stressed that over the past year, the ROC has maintained strong and friendly relations with its 23 diplomatic allies. This attests to the success of the government's policy of flexible diplomacy, he said. It not only helps avoid pointless contention between the two sides of the Taiwan Strait, but also enables the ROC to enjoy even greater space on the international stage. The president noted that on May 18 the ROC's Minister of Health Yen Ching-chuan represented the nation, under the name Chinese Taipei, at the World Health Assembly (WHA) in Geneva as an observer. This achievement came after 12 years of trying to win a presence at the WHA, he said. The president said he is confident that the overseas compatriots in attendance are also pleased with this development.
The president said that he hopes the ROC in the future will continue to promote its foreign aid projects under the principle of "proper goals, legal processes, and effective administration," thereby enabling allies and friends of the ROC to enjoy Taiwan's development experience in new aid projects. The president also expressed his desire for overseas compatriots in Guatemala to assist the ROC embassy in continuing to bolster ties between the two countries and jointly work to help Taiwan expand its international relations. This will help Taiwan to win even more friends and respect in the international community, he said.