President Ma Ying-jeou met on the morning of May 19 with US Congressional Taiwan Caucus co-chairs Mario Diaz-Balart and Phil Gingrey. The president, on behalf of the government and people of the ROC, extended a warm welcome to the visitors on their trip to Taiwan.
The president stated that the Congressional Taiwan Caucus is one of the most active sub-groups in the United States Congress. The caucus has long supported Taiwan, and besides sending a letter to US President Barack Obama urging the administration's sale of F-16C/D fighter jets to Taiwan, it has also passed resolutions supporting Taiwan's participation in international activities. With regard to the inappropriate name used to refer to Taiwan in the World Health Organization, the president said that US Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, who is in attendance at the World Health Assembly in Geneva, specially stressed during a recent press conference that no organization of the UN has the right to unilaterally determine the position of Taiwan. The president expressed his deepest appreciation for these remarks.
President Ma commented that since taking office in May 2008, he has sought to improve cross-strait relations and at the same time worked to restore mutual trust between Taiwan and the United States. These efforts have brought incipient signs of peace to the Taiwan Strait, he said, adding that cooperation with the US in the areas of trade, culture, and security have gradually recovered to previous levels. The president remarked that during a recent video conference with the Washington, DC think tank Center for Strategic and International Studies, he discussed the creation of three lines of defense to ensure the security of the ROC. These include the institutionalization of cross-strait rapprochement, enhancing Taiwan's contributions to international development, and aligning Taiwan's defense with diplomacy. President Ma expressed his hope that at the same time that cross-strait relations improve, Taiwan will continue to be a provider of humanitarian aid and a promoter of cultural ties. In addition, the president indicated that Taiwan also desires to engage in close cooperation with the United States on security issues in order to contribute to regional security and stability, and he therefore called on the Congressional Taiwan Caucus to continue supporting Taiwan and working to further enhance mutual friendship.
The guests were accompanied to the Presidential Office by Deputy Foreign Minister Lyushun Shen (沈呂巡) and William A. Stanton, Director of the Taipei Office of the American Institute in Taiwan, to meet President Ma. Also attending the meeting was National Security Council Deputy Secretary-General Chih-kung Liu (劉志攻).