President Ma Ying-jeou met with US Congressman Hank Johnson, Chairman of the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Courts and Competition Policy, and Congressman Jim McDermott, Chairman of the Ways and Means Committee's Subcommittee on Income Security and Family Support, at the Presidential Office on the morning of November 10. The president, on behalf of the government and people of Taiwan, extended a cordial welcome to the congressmen on this visit to Taiwan.
President Ma commented that Congressman Johnson is a senior member of three House committees (Transportation & Infrastructure; Armed Services; Judiciary), while Congressman McDermott is a senior member of the Ways and Means Committee. The president expressed his deepest appreciation and welcome to the two congressmen, who have shown considerable goodwill toward Taiwan by making a trip here so soon after the US mid-term elections.
The president remarked that Congressmen Johnson and McDermott have long promoted Taiwan-US relations in the House of Representatives. Congressman Johnson devotes a large amount of his attention to intellectual property rights protection issues, which Taiwan is also concerned about, he said. In recent years, Taiwan has amended the Patent Act, the Copyright Act, and other laws related to intellectual property rights protection, thereby creating a well-rounded legal framework, and also has established a special police unit to protect intellectual property rights and crack down on violators, he said. Last year the United States removed Taiwan from its Special 301 Watch List, reflecting the progress Taiwan has made in this regard. President Ma noted that Congressman McDermott has long supported a bilateral free trade agreement as well as Taiwan's participation in the World Health Organization, and said he hopes Congressman McDermott will continue to advocate Taiwan's participation in the International Civil Aviation Organization and the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change.
President Ma stressed that he has made considerable efforts since taking office to improve cross-strait relations and reduce tension in the Taiwan Strait. To date, Taiwan and mainland China have signed 14 agreements, including the Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement (ECFA). Meanwhile, work began in August of this year on negotiating an economic cooperation agreement with Singapore. It is thus clear that the ECFA is helping Taiwan to expand its relations with other nations.
The president stated that mutual trust has been restored at the highest levels between Taiwan and the United States, and relations between the two nations are quite good. The US government, he said, has approved arms sales valued at an aggregate US$13.2 billion to Taiwan, adding that he hopes the United States will agree to sell F-16C/D series jet fighters to Taiwan. He also expressed his hopes that progress will be made to include Taiwan in the US visa-waiver program and to sign a bilateral extradition agreement.
Congressmen Johnson and McDermott were accompanied to the Presidential Office in the morning by Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs Ssu-Tsun Shen to meet President Ma. Also attending the meeting was National Security Council Deputy Secretary-General Chih-kung Liu.