President Ma Ying-jeou met with Sir Nicholas Winterton, Member of the British Parliament and Chair of the All-Party Parliamentary British-Taiwan Group, and Lady Ann Winterton, Member of Parliament, at the Presidential Office on the afternoon of April 2. The president expressed a cordial welcome to the couple on their visit to Taiwan.
The president noted that both have made numerous visits to Taiwan in the past and that they personally attended his inauguration ceremony two years ago, which the president said deeply moved him. The United Kingdom is Taiwan's 17th largest trading partner and is the sixth largest foreign investor in Taiwan, he said. In addition, over 15,000 Taiwanese are studying in the UK, making that nation the second most popular place for Taiwan students to study overseas. This demonstrates the close ties between the two nations, he said.
President Ma commented that in March of last year, the UK set a precedent among European nations by extending visa-free courtesies to travelers from Taiwan. Ireland then followed in the UK's footsteps. He said that the European Union is expected to adopt a similar policy at the end of this year, which is quite important to Taiwan. The UK's decision to waive the need for visas for travelers from Taiwan has triggered a significant increase in the number of Taiwan tourists visiting the UK, which has fostered even closer relations between the two countries, he said.
President Ma said he wants to specially thank the All-Party Parliamentary British-Taiwan Group, of which both Sir Winterton and Lady Winterton are members, for its long-term support for participation by the ROC in international activities. It is in part due to this support that Taiwan last year was able to attend the World Health Assembly (WHA) in Geneva, he said. The president added that Taiwan has been invited again this year to take part. In addition, he said, Taiwan last year became a party to the World Trade Organization's Agreement on Government Procurement. The president said that on behalf of the government and people of the nation he would like to reiterate his gratitude for their support in this regard.
The president noted that Sir Winterton has long served as the Chairman of the All-Party Parliamentary British-Taiwan Group, while Lady Winterton is also a member of the group. Both have spared no effort in promoting relations between Taiwan and the UK, he said. While the terms of Sir Winterton and Lady Winterton will expire this year and they do not plan to seek re-election, the president said he hopes that even after they leave office they will continue to use their influence in the UK to promote Taiwan-UK relations.
The guests said that they are deeply honored to once again be invited to visit Taiwan and expressed their appreciation to President Ma for taking time out of his schedule to meet with them. They said they are pleased that their efforts helped to lead to the implementation of visa-free courtesies for Taiwanese travelers. In addition, they said that the granting of observer status to Taiwan last year at the WHA was all too slow in coming. In the future, they said, the All-Party Parliamentary British-Taiwan Group will continue to promote Taiwan's entry into other international organizations.
The guests furthermore stressed that regardless of whether they are serving in Parliament, they will continue to pay attention to issues regarding Taiwan. They said they hope that people from Taiwan, regardless of whether they are from the political or business communities, or are government officials, will form delegations to visit the UK, which will help to strengthen relations between the two countries.
Sir Winterton and Lady Winterton were accompanied to the Presidential Office in the afternoon by Vice Foreign Minister Lyushun Shen. Also attending the meeting with the president was National Security Council Secretary-General Hu Wei-jen.