President Ma Ying-jeou met with a delegation of parliamentarians from the United Kingdom on the morning of September 28 at the Presidential Office. The president, on behalf of the government and people of the ROC, extended a warm welcome to the visitors on their trip to Taiwan.
President Ma commented that Taiwan and the UK have a longstanding friendly relationship. In particular, over the past two years the UK has granted visa-free courtesies to travelers from Taiwan, resulting in significant increase in the number of Taiwanese visitors to the UK. In addition, about 15,000 students from Taiwan are studying in the UK, making it the second most popular destination for Taiwan students behind the United States, he said.
The president remarked that in November of last year Taiwan and the UK signed the Agreement on the Operation of Air Services that has enabled EVA Air and China Airlines to increase their number of flights to the UK, which demonstrates the increasingly close ties between the two sides. President Ma stated that he has done his utmost since taking office to improve relations between the two sides of the Taiwan Strait. In particular, Taiwan and mainland China signed the cross-strait Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement (ECFA) in June this year, which has begun to put trade and economic relations between the two sides on a more systematic footing. President Ma stressed the significance of the ECFA, adding that in the wake of warming relations between the two sides, Taiwan has also been able to improve its relations with non-diplomatic allies, thereby creating greater space for Taiwan in the international community.
President Ma mentioned that British Foreign Secretary William Hague in a recent foreign policy speech stressed that the UK will not abandon its focus on human rights for the sake of trade. The president said that he deeply admires this standpoint. He added that last year he signed the instruments of ratification for the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights as well as the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, two covenants of the United Nations. This step will place human rights protection in Taiwan on a par with those of advanced nations. He said he hopes that the visitors in the future will continue to support and welcome Taiwan's initiatives on human rights.
The British parliamentary delegation included Member of Parliament Navnit Dholakia. The delegation was accompanied to the Presidential Office in the morning by Deputy Foreign Minister Lyushun Shen and British Trade and Cultural Office Director David Campbell to meet President Ma. Also attending the meeting was National Security Council Deputy Secretary-General Chih-kung Liu.