President Ma Ying-jeou on the morning of November 5 attended the opening of the 2010 WorldTBA Convention in Taipei and encouraged overseas compatriots to closely follow and understand developments in Taiwan. He said he hopes that they will coordinate with various policies here to contribute to Taiwan's future development. The president expressed his gratitude and respect for the efforts made by the overseas compatriots in the places where they reside.
President Ma said that as head of state, his main goal is to maintain national security, and with that end in mind he is now addressing the various challenges facing the nation. He pointed out that right after he took office, his administration promptly adopted a policy of reducing cross-strait tensions and promoting prosperity on both sides of the Taiwan Strait. Talks between the two sides that had been severed for 10 years were resumed, and the two sides have since signed 14 agreements, thus ending 60 years of contentious struggle between Taiwan and mainland China and bringing about incipient signs of cross-strait peace. This is what the people of both sides want, and has also been well-received by countries in the Asia-Pacific and throughout the world.
The president stressed that relations between the two sides of the Taiwan Strait will be carried out under the framework of the ROC Constitution and that the status quo of "no unification, no independence, and no use of force" will be maintained. The president also said that the 1992 Consensus will serve as the basis for promoting the peaceful development of cross-strait relations. In so doing, however, the government will not overlook the importance of national security and diplomatic relations. Over the past two years, he said, Taiwan's alliances with its 23 diplomatic partners have been stable, while close ties and mutual trust at the highest levels have been restored with key nations with which the ROC does not maintain diplomatic ties, such as the United States, Japan, New Zealand, and Australia. The president pointed out how the improvement in cross-strait relations has bolstered Taiwan's relations in the international community. For example, Taiwan now participates in the World Health Assembly, has become a party to the Agreement on Government Procurement, and enjoys a higher level of representation in APEC, all of which, he said, represents a virtuous circle.
Looking back at how Taiwan was impacted by the global financial tsunami and recession, the president stated the government took the crisis as an opportunity, unveiling a series of policies to improve Taiwan's economic structure and investment climate. These measures included the lowering of interest rates by the Central Bank seven consecutive times to provide extra liquidity to the markets, providing a blanket bank deposit guarantee, and initiating the so-called "three supports" policy, whereby the government supported banks, the banks in turn supported enterprises by providing financing, and enterprises supported workers by keeping them on the payroll. All of these policies helped to gradually create a more stable economic environment here, he said.
President Ma furthermore said that the government's policy is to generate an economic recovery with Taiwan characteristics, including high growth in employment, innovation, reduced carbon emissions and energy consumption, and participation in regional economic integration. This will enable the nation to achieve the objective of "building up Taiwan while linking with the Asia-Pacific region and deploying globally," he said. Taiwan's economy has returned to its previous robust state, he remarked, adding that the government is confident of continued growth and prosperity ahead.