President Ma Ying-jeou arrived at Nauru International Airport at 6:10 p.m. on March 23 (2:10 p.m. Taipei time) and was welcomed with full military honors. Nauru President Marcus Stephen, Parliament Speaker Riddell Akua, and Foreign Minister Kieren Keke were at the airport to greet the president.
President Stephen held a state banquet for President Ma in the evening. During the event, President Ma presented donations of rice to Nauru in a gesture to express the ROC's concern and support for its ally.
After the banquet, President Ma specially arranged for a reception with Taiwan's media that has accompanied him on the trip. The president said that the main reason for this trip is to help everyone understand that the ROC's embrace of flexible diplomacy does not mean that it is shying away from engaging in diplomacy. A diplomatic truce, he said, does not constitute a retreat from foreign affairs, a diplomatic holiday, or a diplomatic shock. Rather, the ROC will work to solidify its relations with its existing diplomatic allies, he said, by strengthening economic and cultural relations. Therefore, the ROC has mapped out cooperative projects with each one of its six allies in the region, which will cover the gamut from agriculture and fisheries, to education and medicine, he said.
The South Pacific is threatened by rising sea levels. All countries throughout the world are concerned about the potential damage. The countries that face the most significant threat are Kiribati and Tuvalu, he said, adding that these two nations could face inundation. While this may not happen for another 30 or 40 years, we need to come up with measures in anticipation of what might occur in the future, he said.
President Ma said the main objective of this journey is to strengthen the ROC's alliances with these nations and to exhibit concern for our allies. Even though these nations are small, each one of them is an independent and sovereign political entity. These countries, he remarked, have helped the ROC quite a bit in the international community and we owe them gratitude for their efforts.
The president said it was originally planned that in September of last year the ROC would invite the Solomon Islands and the other allies to a joint conference. However, general discussions can sometimes lead to a loss of focus, he said. President Ma noted that each nation has its specific needs and exhibits different characteristics, adding that better understanding of each nation could be achieved through visits to each, rather than a single round-table discussion.
President Ma said that lastly he wants to stress that an improvement in cross-strait ties is a doubtless beneficial to the ROC in expanding its international relations. Furthermore, an expansion of international relations will create greater willingness and confidence in bolstering cross-strait ties. This is what he commonly refers to as the virtuous circle theory. The vicious cycle of the past has given way to a more positive trend, he said, and he hopes that everyone will do what they can to nurture this virtuous circle, enabling Taiwan to gain increased visibility in the international arena and allow us to exhibit our strengths. Also, President Ma said, a positive cross-strait relationship will be able to gradually reduce the threat of war, while also helping to gradually institutionalize cultural, economic, trade, and other types of interaction. This is an extremely important part of the administration's vision for the nation, he said. Therefore, the president said that as the leader of the ROC, he must pursue this path, as this is why the people voted for him as president. He absolutely must guide Taiwan out of the corner and find a path for it, he said.