President Ma Ying-jeou met with Philippine presidential envoy Mr. Manuel Roxas II on the morning of February 22 at the Presidential Office. During the meeting, the president expressed his views regarding the deportation of 14 ROC nationals to mainland China in early February by the Philippine government.
The president stated that as President of the ROC, he is with a heavy heart meeting with the Philippine envoy. He furthermore expressed his strong dissatisfaction with the inappropriate deportation of the 14 ROC nationals by the Philippine government to mainland China earlier this month.
President Ma pointed out that the Philippine government committed at least three major mistakes in the handling of this incident:
First, these 14 ROC nationals were expelled by the Philippine government. Philippine officials proclaimed that they were extradited, but in fact the ROC nationals were not sent back to the ROC. This is a serious violation of international law and international precedent, he said.
Second, these 14 ROC nationals all held ROC passports and legally entered the Philippines. Philippine officials, however, claimed that these Taiwanese did not possess legal travel documents. This constituted a flagrant lie, he said.
Third, these 14 ROC nationals had already applied for a writ of habeas corpus in a Philippine court of law. The Philippine government, however, ignored the laws of the Philippines and illegally sent the ROC nationals to mainland China. A democratic nation should not exhibit this type of behavior, the president said.
President Ma stressed that the ROC government and people felt an extreme level of anger in the wake of these errors by the Philippine government. The decision to meet with Mr. Roxas today, he said, was based on the longstanding friendship and cooperation between the ROC and the Philippines. President Ma said he hopes that the Philippine government will bear responsibility for the errors committed in this case and apologize for its actions. President Ma furthermore noted that Mr. Roxas, must forward the request of the ROC to Philippines President Benigno Aquino III.
The president also stated that in the wake of his arrival in Taiwan on February 21, Mr. Roxas has already reached a consensus with officials from the ROC's Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Both sides, he said, are willing to handle international crimes based on a mutual judicial assistance agreement. Furthermore, both sides intend to explore the possibility of negotiating an economic partnership accord, he said.
Lastly, President Ma expressed to Mr. Roxas that the ROC will evaluate development of relations between the two countries in a large part based on how the Philippine government follows up in concluding the handling of this issue.