President Ma Ying-jeou met with American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) Chairman Raymond F. Burghardt at the Presidential Office on the morning of December 1. The two exchanged opinions on a broad range of issues, including Taiwan-US trade and economic ties, security, and cross-strait relations.
President Ma remarked that new developments have been seen on the political and economic fronts here since Chairman Burghardt's previous visit to Taiwan in early June of this year. He noted that the two sides of the Taiwan Strait signed the Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement in late June, and the agreement took effect in September. The agreement will reduce tariffs on various products beginning from January 1, 2011, and will put trade and economic relations between the two sides on a more systematic footing. Meanwhile, the ROC and Singapore on August 5 announced in a joint press release that they will also explore the possibility of signing an economic cooperation accord, he said.
Turning to foreign affairs, President Ma commented that both Canada and the European Union in recent days have agreed to include holders of ROC passports in their respective visa-waiver programs. These moves will increase the number of countries and areas to which Taiwanese can travel visa-free to 96, up from 53 when he took office, marking a growth of 81%, he said. In addition, he mentioned that six more nations are expected to provide visa-free courtesies to Taiwan nationals next year. Each year, some 310,000 Taiwanese visit Europe and about 150,000 travel to Canada. Including Taiwan in the visa-waiver programs will save about NT$1.5 billion for the public in visa fees, he said, and this will pave the way for ROC’s relations with Canada and the EU to move further forward.
With regard to the five municipal elections held last weekend, the president explained that Taiwan is consolidating seven major metropolitan areas into five special municipalities, which marks a historical milestone and demonstrates the government's ability to carry through on policy initiatives. The term "five special municipalities" refers to two metropolitan areas in northern Taiwan, one in central Taiwan, and two in southern Taiwan. Of these, Tainan City and Tainan County have a combined population of less than two million, but they were still granted special municipality status because of their deep cultural and historical significance to Taiwan. This demonstrates that the government places great importance on creating a balance between northern and southern Taiwan.
The president commented that the ruling party remained in control in Taipei City, Xinbei City, and Taichung City. However, the Kuomintang (KMT) lost in the two southern municipalities by a significant margin to candidates from the opposition party. He said the KMT regards this as a warning signal, and intends to take a critical look at its performance as ruling party. On another front, he noted that the election campaign had been quite peaceable until a shooting incident occurred in the final run-up to the polls. Coming at a time when Taiwan is emerging as a mature democracy, this regrettable incident was quite a shock. The government will closely look at this situation and work to address it, he said.
With respect to Taiwan-US relations, the president remarked that the government hopes to procure F16 C/D series jet fighters from the United States to shore up the precarious military balance in the Taiwan Strait. Taiwan also hopes to sign an extradition agreement with the United States and be included in the US visa-waiver program. He said he hopes that concrete progress will be seen on all these fronts in the near future. President Ma stated that Taiwan and mainland China last year signed a judicial assistance agreement that has paved the way for both sides to work together in combating crime. This has yielded outstanding results, he said, furthermore expressing his hopes that progress will be forged on a Taiwan-US extradition agreement, the signing of which would enable authorities in Taiwan to prosecute criminals who flee to the United States.
President Ma commented that Taiwan's economic growth rate this year is expected to hit 9.98% and could even rise to double digits. This would be the strongest growth in the past 21 years, but this year's recovery has differed from those of the past, he said. While net demand from overseas has accounted, as in past years, for most of the growth, domestic investment nevertheless rose 67% on an annualized basis in the first half of this year, and growth for the year is expected to exceed 30%, he said. Meanwhile, import growth is outpacing export growth. A lot of imported plant and equipment is scheduled to go into production soon, which he said the government is pleased to see.
The president stressed that the government is working hard to address the unemployment situation. Joblessness in October fell to 4.92%, down by more than a percentage point from the 6.13% peak in August of last year, and the average unemployment rate for next year is expected to be under 5%. Rising incomes and consumption reflect higher employment, and consumer confidence is growing, he said.
Chairman Burghardt praised Taiwan's democratic achievements and expressed admiration for the government's efforts to strengthen cross-strait relations, which is conducive to regional stability. With respect to the government's concern about arms sales, an extradition agreement, and inclusion in the US visa-waiver program, Chairman Burghardt expressed hope that the two sides will engage in further communication on these issues, and that progress will be seen.
Chairman Burghardt was accompanied to the Presidential Office in the morning by Deputy Foreign Minister Lyushun Shen and AIT Taipei Office Director William A. Stanton to meet President Ma. Also attending the meeting was National Security Council Secretary-General Hu Wei-jen.