President Ma Ying-jeou, accompanied by Vice President Vincent C. Siew, held a reception on the evening of June 29 at the Presidential Office Building for the heads of the ROC's five branches of government, their deputies, and the secretary generals of the organizations. The government leaders exchanged opinions on a broad range of issues including judicial reform, economic development, cross-strait relations and space for the ROC in the international arena, and social justice.
In remarks at the gathering, the president said that he is extremely pleased that the Judicial Yuan is currently in the process of promoting a lay judge system. Regardless how judicial proceedings are amended in the future, the president said that the key is to first get it up and running, and then improve it later. The president also pointed out the recent passage by the Legislative Yuan of the historically important Judges Act, expressing his confidence that this will have a critical impact on the process of judicial reform.
Noting that civil servants will receive a pay raise on July 1, President Ma explained that the main objective of the pay raise is to spark a similar move by the private sector, which he said will help promote economic development. While the outlook for the international economy remains somewhat uncertain for the second half of this year, the government is confident that efforts to generate domestic momentum will undoubtedly be beneficial to the economy. Last year, he pointed out, considerable growth was seen in consumption, and an increase in salaries will certainly create further room for consumption to increase. Over the long term, the government will work to boost incomes by adjusting the nation's industrial structure.
The president commented that US Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius convened a press conference during this year's World Health Assembly and stated that no United Nations-affiliated organization can unilaterally decide Taiwan's status. The president stated that this is the strongest stance taken by the United States in this regard in many years. This year marks the 40th anniversary of the ROC leaving the United Nations (UN). When UN Resolution 2758 was initially passed, it only addressed the issue of a representative from mainland China taking the place of the representative from Taiwan. This resolution did not address the relationship between Taiwan and mainland China, he said. Consequently, the World Health Organization's reference to us as "Taiwan, China" in internal documents has nothing to do with Resolution 2758, he explained, adding that the remarks made by Health and Human Services Secretary Sebelius are quite accurate. In fact, he said, each nation that has established relations with mainland China has a slightly different view on this issue, which is why there are six or seven different formats of communiqués on the establishment of diplomatic ties between the mainland and other countries.
President Ma expressed his belief that the two sides of the Taiwan Strait should be able to peacefully coexist and forge mutual prosperity. He noted that earlier in the day he met with Dr. William Perry, who served as US Secretary of Defense at the time of the crisis in the Taiwan Strait in 1996. He told Dr. Perry that the efforts made by the Taiwan government over the past three years have not only yielded peace in the region, but have also helped promote world peace. We hope to continue with this policy, he said. Consequently, the government will continue to abide by the principle of "no unification, no independence, and no use of force," and use the "1992 Consensus" that centers on the concept "one China, respective interpretations" as the basis to continue to forge progress in cross-strait relations. The president also mentioned that Taiwan and mainland China are in negotiations on an investment guarantee agreement and nuclear power safety, and said he hopes for progress on these fronts in the next month or two, as both issues are extremely important to the well-being of the people of Taiwan.
President Ma also explained the government's measures to protect fundamental human rights. The government in 2009 passed two UN human rights covenants, incorporated them into domestic law, and instituted a two-year review of laws and regulations to identify and amend existing legal provisions that conflict with the covenants. This period is coming to a conclusion and the president said he hopes that the Ministry of Justice will complete the amendments as soon as possible. President Ma stressed that judicial reform work should be implemented with "justice for the people" in mind. He thanked the Legislative Yuan for approving four candidates that he had nominated to serve as Justices of the Constitutional Court. The president said he is confident that these individuals will demonstrate expertise in their new positions and will make a contribution to protecting and promoting constitutional law.
In turning to the topic of social justice, the president noted that the Public Assistance Act will formally take effect on July 1. This legislation will raise the poverty line, thus making 860,000 people, or 3.7% of the nation's population, eligible to receive assistance. The president stated that this marks the largest reform ever of Taiwan's social assistance system. In addition, he said that the government will soon introduce short-, medium-, and long-term measures regarding public housing. He cited one long-term initiative as the Executive Yuan's decision to develop a new township in the Tamsui area. An increased supply of housing will hopefully prevent overly steep rises in housing prices in northern Taiwan, he said.
The government leaders attending the reception included Premier Wu Den-yih (吳敦義), Legislative Yuan President Wang Jin-pyng (王金平), Judicial Yuan President Hau-min Rai (賴浩敏), Control Yuan President Wang Chien-shien (王建煊), Examination Yuan President Kuan Chung (關中), Vice Premier Sean C. Chen (陳冲), Judicial Yuan Vice President Yeong-Chin Su (蘇永欽), Control Yuan Vice President Chen Jinn-lih (陳進利), Executive Yuan Secretary-General Lin Join-sane (林中森), Legislative Yuan Secretary General Lin Hsi-shan (林錫山), Judicial Yuan Secretary-General Jinn-Fang Lin (林錦芳), Examination Yuan Secretary-General Hwang Yea-baang (黃雅榜), and Control Yuan Secretary General Chen Feng-yi (陳豐義).