President Ma Ying-jeou met on the afternoon of August 6 at the Presidential Office with a delegation from the US Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) focusing on cross-strait confidence building measures. The president exchanged opinions with the visitors on a broad range of topics relating to Taiwan-US-mainland China relations.
President Ma commented that since assuming office two years ago, he has made every effort to strengthen cross-strait relations and reduce tension in the Taiwan Strait. Taiwan so far has signed 14 agreements with mainland China, including an Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement (ECFA), which is helping to normalize trade and economic ties between the two sides, he said.
The president furthermore said that the ECFA covers everything that needs to be present in normal trade and economic relations between the two economic entities, including: direct cross-strait postal, transportation, and trade links; food safety; the hiring of fishing crews; mutual judicial assistance; financial supervision; reduction and elimination of tariffs; protection of intellectual property rights; liberalization of the service sector; and product testing and certification. These agreements help to make up for opportunities Taiwan had lost during the eight years under the rule of the Democratic Progressive Party, he said.
President Ma stressed that Taiwan and Singapore are expected to begin negotiations on an economic cooperation agreement within the next half year. This shows that the signing of the ECFA is not only beneficial to cross-strait relations, but also paves the way for Taiwan to sign free trade agreements or economic cooperation agreements with other key trading partners.
The president remarked that in working toward signing of the ECFA, negotiations and talks between Taiwan and mainland China also served as a kind of confidence building measure in the broadest sense of the term, enabling both sides to have more far-reaching and deeper contact than in the past. He added that the improvement in relations between Taiwan and mainland China has also brought positive changes in Taiwan's ties with the United States, Japan, the European Union, ASEAN, New Zealand, and Australia, all of whom are now more willing to enhance ties or boost the level of contacts with Taiwan. This is in the interest of both parties.
President Ma also explained to the guests that the aim of Taiwan's acquisition of high-performance jet fighters is not to boost its attack capabilities, but to replace its aging fleet and maintain its defense capabilities. The president said he hopes the United States and mainland China are able to understand this. President Ma also stated that the United States has twice announced sales of military weaponry to Taiwan in accordance with the Taiwan Relations Act. The value of the two packages stands at US$13 billion. He noted that this constitutes the largest pledge to Taiwan in this respect by the United States in the past decade. In the meantime, the president said that talks between Taiwan and the United States are currently being held for a bilateral Trade and Investment Framework Agreement, an extradition agreement, and inclusion of Taiwan in the US Visa Waiver Program. President Ma expressed his concerns, however, over the current military imbalance between the two sides of the Taiwan Strait. He said that Taiwan and the United States should maintain and strengthen cooperation in the area of security. Taiwan will undoubtedly strengthen its own military preparations, he said. The president added that if Taiwan is able to receive the assistance of the United States, it will have greater confidence in pursuing relations with mainland China.
The delegation, which met with the president in the afternoon, was led by Admiral Timothy J. Keating, former Commander of the U.S. Pacific Command, and included Bonnie S. Glaser and Alan D. Romberg. Also attending the meeting was National Security Council Deputy Secretary-General Chih-kung Liu.