President Ma Ying-jeou attended the opening of the 2010 International Conference on Homeland Security on the morning of April 28. In remarks to the gathering, the president stressed that the ROC is very willing to cooperate with the international community on security. He also expressed his hopes that the conference will provide an opportunity for local and foreign experts to discuss various methods to establish a more tightly-knit international grid of protection.
President Ma said he was extremely pleased to attend the opening of the conference. He commented that the concept of "homeland security" has been in existence for a long time. However, the issue became more urgent in the wake of the September 11 terrorist attacks in the United States, he said. The scope of security, however, is no longer limited to traditional military security or the prevention of terrorist activities, but also includes all types of non-traditional security issues, he said. Consequently, the president said, it is very important that experts from five nations have been invited to participate in this conference. The president added that this also demonstrates the importance placed on the issue by the Executive Yuan.
President Ma said that when he took office two years ago he stressed that the ROC is willing to participate in international cooperation on homeland security, which he described as extremely useful. The president pointed to the financial tsunami and economic recession that swept across the globe in 2008, as well as the outbreak of the H1N1 influenza virus last year, as events that were brought under control thanks to international cooperation. Particularly in the case of measures to prevent the spread of the H1N1 virus, international cooperation helped to reduce harm to populations around the world, he said. While some criticized the World Health Organization for exaggerating the severity of the situation originally, international cooperation in fact was quite effective in preventing the situation from snowballing out of control, the president said. Therefore, we will certainly continue working to promote cooperation in this respect, he said.
The president noted that Taiwan took very aggressive measures to combat the spread of the H1N1 virus from the very beginning. Halting classes at schools with outbreaks helped to reduce the spread of the virus. In addition, a vaccine was developed domestically, he said. The vaccine began being administered in the middle of November last year, and over 70% of people aged 18 years old or younger have been vaccinated, he said, noting that this was the highest proportion of vaccinated persons in this segment of the population of anywhere in the world. By January, nearly one in four Taiwanese had been vaccinated, equivalent to over 5.6 million people, the fifth-highest vaccination rate in the world. The president said that the vaccine was provided free of charge. After bringing the outbreak under control here, Taiwan indicated that it was willing to donate 500,000 doses, valued at US$5 million, to countries in need of them, the president said, adding that this shows how meaningful international cooperation can be.
President Ma stated that on April 27 he met with the Secretary of Science and Technology from the Philippines and the two discussed cooperation between the two nations in weather forecasting. The president said that everyone is aware that East Asian nations are frequently pummeled by typhoons in summer and autumn. He said that Taiwan will assist the Philippines to establish 15 automated meteorological forecasting stations. This will enable the two countries to share weather information, he said. President Ma noted that typhoons frequently pass by the Philippines on their way toward mainland China and Japan. Cooperation between Taiwan and the Philippines will help everyone make more accurate forecasts, he said.
Security was also a key issue last year, he said, when Kaohsiung hosted the World Games in July and Taipei hosted the Deaflympics in September. Hundreds of thousands of people participated in these events, but security planning was quite solid, and the events were carried out without any incident. International cooperation played an important role, he said, noting that Taiwan obtained quite a bit of important intelligence from international organizations, enabling us to prepare for any possible danger. The president said that this type of international cooperation is a necessary aspect of any effort to address homeland security issues in the future.
President Ma said that bringing experts from around the world together to discuss methods and strategies for international cooperation is a very good approach. He therefore reiterated his welcome to the participants on behalf of the government and people of the ROC, and expressed his hope that a successful conference would pave the way for an even more tight-knit international protection network.