President Ma Ying-jeou met with the Israeli Knesset's Israel-Taiwan Parliamentary Friendship Group Chair Nachman Shai and other Knesset members at the Presidential Office on the morning of September 2. The president, on behalf of the government and people of the ROC, extended a cordial welcome to them on their visit to Taiwan.
President Ma remarked that Taiwan and Israel set up representative offices in each other's country in 1993, and since that time have signed over 10 agreements on cooperation in the fields of technology, medicine, and agriculture. This demonstrates that relations between the two sides are growing steadily, he said. In addition, while bilateral trade has fallen slightly as a result of the financial tsunami, the president said he is confident that trade between the two nations will return to previous levels and beyond.
President Ma stated that while Taiwan and Israel do not maintain formal diplomatic relations, the two have close substantive ties and share many similarities, including a commitment to the values of freedom, democracy, and rule of law. He added that the people of the two nations also place great emphasis on education and family values.
The president stated that Taiwan and mainland China at the end of June signed the cross-strait Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement (ECFA), which has an important role to play in efforts to reduce tension in the Taiwan Strait and place trade between the two sides on a systematic footing. The ECFA marks a historical milestone in relations between the two sides, he said. In light of this new development, the president expressed his desire to see a further strengthening of ties between Taiwan and Israel. In addition, he said that at the same time that cross-strait relations are improving, Taiwan also hopes to further build its relations with other countries and avoid putting friends in the dilemma of having to take sides between Taiwan and mainland China.
Besides Mr. Shai, the visiting delegation included Amir Perez, Miri Regev, and Daniel Ben Simon. The delegation was accompanied to the Presidential Office in the morning by Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs Javier Ching-shan Hou and Israeli Representative to Taiwan Simona Halperin to meet President Ma. Also attending the meeting was National Security Council Advisor Tung Kuo-yu.