President Ma Ying-jeou met with American scholar Ms. Susan Shirk at the Presidential Office on the afternoon of June 19. The president, on behalf of the government and people of the ROC (Taiwan), extended a cordial welcome to Ms. Shirk and other scholars who are visiting Taiwan to take part in an international academic seminar.
The president remarked that the visitors are all highly distinguished professors in the United States involved in the research of China-related issues. President Ma particularly noted that the book written by Professor Shirk and published two years ago, The Fragile Superpower, received a great amount of attention in the academic community. The president said that over the past year, quite significant changes have been seen in relations between the two sides of the Taiwan Strait, ties between Taiwan and the United States, and relations between the United States and mainland China. The president expressed his desire to hear the opinions of the guests in this regard.
In response to interest expressed by the scholars on the role of the United States in cross-strait relations and the development of cross-strait ties, President Ma said that changes presently taking place are beneficial to all three sides. Even though Taiwan and mainland China continue to improve ties, Taiwan still needs assistance from the United States in the area of security. President Ma said that he clearly spelled out his cross-strait policies in his inauguration address, namely that they would reflect the mainstream public viewpoint of "no unification, no independence and no use of force." He said that he seeks to maintain the status quo in the Taiwan Strait under the framework of the ROC Constitution.
President Ma also told the guests that Taiwan presently hopes to complete negotiations with mainland China on an economic cooperation framework agreement (ECFA). The ECFA is actually a sort of free trade agreement, and it would help to normalize cross-strait trade and investment, he said. In addition, he is also in favor of a "diplomatic truce" with mainland China, and is perfectly happy to see friendly nations developing economic and trade relations with China. However, while the ROC is strengthening ties with mainland China and its relations with its diplomatic allies, it will not neglect its relationship with the United States and Japan, the president said. President Ma added that he hopes to find a balance in all of these relationships.
In response to a question as to whether the cross-strait relationship is progressing at an overly rapid pace, President Ma commented that trade and investment between the two sides hit historical highs when the Democratic Progressive Party administration was in power. The political relationship between the two sides, on the other hand, had not kept pace with the development of economic ties, he said. As a result, the government now is addressing previous imbalances in cross-strait ties and is working to close gaps in this regard that developed over the previous eight years, President Ma said.
Professor Shirk said that President Ma's cross-strait policies over the past year have been quite pragmatic and have yielded many results. The progress in the cross-strait relationship is one of the most interesting stories in the international community over the past year and has made a deep impression on many people, she said.