President Ma Ying-jeou met with a delegation from the National Committee on American Foreign Policy (NCAFP) at the Presidential Office on the morning of May 13. During the meeting, the president and the visitors exchanged opinions on a wide range of issues associated with cross-strait relations and relations between Taiwan and the United States.
President Ma remarked that the NCAFP is a highly influential think tank in the United States. Last year, a delegation from the organization visited Taiwan to attend the International Conference on 30 Years of the Taiwan Relations Act – Retrospect and Prospects. At the event, former US Ambassador to mainland China Winston Lord specially mentioned that relations among the United States, mainland China, and Taiwan are better now than at any other time in the past 60 years. Ambassador Lord’s statement has set the keynote for the change in cross-strait relations over the past few years, and was seconded by many people, he said. Over the past year, the president said, new progress has been seen in cross-strait ties, noting that the two sides have signed 12 agreements and are working hard to iron out an Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement. President Ma expressed his hopes that such a pact will be signed soon to further normalize cross-strait trade and economic relations.
President Ma then steered the discussion to relations between Taiwan and the United States. He said that over the past year, ties between the two have entered a new stage in light of progress with regards to the sale of weapons to Taiwan by the United States and military cooperation between the two. The president pointed out that last August when southern and eastern Taiwan suffered severe flooding and landslides caused by Typhoon Morakot, the United States military came to Taiwan's aid by mobilizing helicopters that made 75 trips into disaster areas to rescue people and deliver assistance. In addition, in January of this year after Haiti suffered a devastating earthquake, Taiwan's military dispatched a C130 cargo plane that flew from Hsinchu to the Dominican Republic carrying relief goods and medicine that were then forwarded to Haiti. During its journey of over 10,000 kilometers, the plane received assistance from the United States, he said, marking a major step forward in bilateral cooperation in humanitarian aid.
With regard to bilateral controversy that arose at the end of last year after Taiwan banned imports of US ground beef and offal, President Ma noted that Taiwan moved up the date for the resumption of imports of American beef on bone, and these imports have now exceeded 12,000 metric tons. This type of beef makes up the majority of the beef imported from the United States, he said, while offal and ground beef comprises only 2% of the total. During his previous trips to Central America President Ma made transit stops in San Francisco and Los Angeles, and during the stopovers he had the opportunity to speak over the phone with many senators and congressmen from agricultural states to explain the beef situation to them. He said that their response was quite positive after learning of the steps that Taiwan has taken. President Ma said he feels that the method of handling this dispute and the damage control measures adopted demonstrate the level of mutual trust between the two sides at the highest levels. As a result, the impact of the situation was kept to a minimum.
President Ma stressed that the ROC is currently continuing to promote even closer economic relations and ties in other areas with the United States. He said he is confident that continued arms sales and security cooperation will create a stronger sense of security and self-confidence for Taiwan. This will provide benefits in our negotiations with mainland China, thereby creating a virtuous circle, he said.
The president said that relations between Taiwan and the United States are going quite smoothly, and he intends to impress upon the NCAFP delegation that Taiwan-US relations are moving steadily forward. Taiwan, he said, is no longer a "troublemaker," as some nations have thought in the past. Rather, Taiwan has become a "peacemaker," and this has been a great boost to Taiwan's international image. The president remarked that rescue and relief teams from Taiwan were the first on the ground in Haiti after that nation's earthquake, and by working with counterparts from the United States, they helped save many people who may have otherwise died. Taiwan's work in this regard earned positive coverage in the international press, highlighting its role as a provider of international humanitarian aid. This will ultimately create more space for us in the international community, he said, adding that Taiwan is pleased to engage in such work.
President Ma told the guests that in a few days our Minister of Health will head to Geneva to attend the World Health Assembly (WHA). This marks the second time we have taken part in the WHA in the past 39 years, adding that Taiwan's participation in this event is extremely important. He said that since our participation in last year's assembly and the inclusion of Taiwan in implementation of the International Health Regulations, we have been able to obtain strains of the H1N1 virus and use them to manufacture a vaccine here. The vaccine has been quite effective and made Taiwan's H1N1 mortality rate one of the lowest in the world at just one-third the OECD average. Some 25% of Taiwan's population has been vaccinated, ranking Taiwan fifth globally and putting it almost on a par with the United States, he said. We have provided the vaccine to the local public free of charge, and also informed the World Health Organization that we are willing to donate US$5 million worth of the vaccine to other countries that may be in need of it. It is thus clear that participation in the WHA and maintaining relations with the WHO have benefits both for Taiwan and the world, he said.
The delegation expressed its appreciation to President Ma for taking time out of his busy schedule to meet with them. They also applauded President Ma's efforts to improve cross-strait relations and Taiwan-US ties since taking office. Members of the delegation and the president then exchanged opinions on a range of issues related to Taiwan-US and cross-strait relations.
The delegation, which was led by President of NCAFP George D. Schwab, included Kissinger Institute on China and the United States Director Ambassador J. Stapleton Roy, Asia Society President Emeritus Ambassador Nicholas Platt, NCAFP Senior Vice President Professor Donald S. Zagoria, Pacific Forum CSIS President Ralph A. Cossa, and Forum on Asia-Pacific Security Assistant Project Director A. Greer Pritchett. The delegation was accompanied to the Presidential Office in the morning by Deputy Foreign Minister Lyushun Shen to meet President Ma. Also in attendance was National Security Council Deputy Secretary-General Ho Szu-yin.