President Ma Ying-jeou met with Canadian Member of Parliament (MP) Chungsen Leung and Parliamentary Secretary for Multiculturalism at the Presidential Office on the morning of May 21. Parliamentarian Leung was Canada's envoy and the leader of a congratulatory delegation attending the inauguration ceremonies of the 13th-term president and vice president of the ROC. He also presented an oil painting to President Ma from overseas compatriot painter Michelle Lan as an expression of congratulations. Also attending the meeting were Vice President Wu Den-yih, National Security Council Secretary-General Hu Wei-jen (胡為真), and Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Tung Kuoyu (董國猷).
In remarks, the President first expressed his appreciation to MP Leung for leading a delegation to Taiwan to attend the inauguration. He also stated that the Conservative Party government led by Canadian Prime Minister and party leader Stephen Harper is the friendliest of any Canadian government to the ROC in history. The president noted that four years ago the Canadian foreign minister Maxime Bernier immediately issued a statement of congratulations to him when he was first elected as ROC president. Meanwhile, immediately after the results in the January polls in which he sought election to another term, Foreign Minister John Baird extended his congratulations and stated his hopes for the development of peace between the two sides of the Taiwan Strait. President Ma said that the dispatch of this delegation to attend the inauguration points to the continued strengthening of the bilateral relationship.
The president introduced one by one the longstanding connections between Taiwan and the members of the delegation. For instance, he stated that MP Leung was born in Taiwan and his father was a graduate of the Whampoa Military Academy. MP Leung, the president pointed out, was the first member of the House of Commons from Taiwan, adding that he has provided important support to Prime Minister Harper since his election. As the Parliamentary Secretary for Multiculturalism, MP Leung has significantly enhanced the status of ethnic Chinese in Canadian society, the president said, furthermore stating that MP Leung is a source of pride for Taiwan. Meanwhile, MP John Weston, the new Chair of the Canada-Taiwan Friendship Group, previously resided in Taiwan for 11 years, the president noted, pointing out that MP Weston met his Taiwanese wife here and they were married in Kaohsiung. Taiwan is MP Weston's second home, the president said. Meanwhile, President Ma stated that MP Ron Cannan, who recently completed his tenure as Chair of the Canada-Taiwan Friendship Group, was instrumental in promoting ties between the two countries during his term, and also jointly held many activities with Taiwan's representative office in Canada. MP Cannan, the president said, made significant contributions to bolstering the relationship between the two countries. President Ma also commented that MP Patrick Brown visited Taiwan four years ago to observe the presidential election and witnessed the fair and impartial election process. The president said that MP Brown's encouragement helped to make this most recent presidential and vice presidential election an even greater success. Lastly, the president specially expressed his deepest appreciation to MP Brian Storseth for making a special trip to Taiwan to extend his congratulations.
President Ma mentioned that relations between Taiwan and Canada have seen concrete progress on many fronts in recent years due to the efforts extended by both sides. For instance, two years ago Canada began extending visa waiver courtesies to the people of Taiwan and the number of visitors from Taiwan to Canada now has risen to about 150,000 annually, he said. In addition, a youth working holiday memorandum of understanding was signed by the two countries in 2010, which has increased the maximum number of participants in the program annually from 200 to 1,000 as of this year. The program has become extremely popular among youth here, he said. The president added that First Lady Chow Mei-ching (周美青) in 2010 attended the Winter Olympics Cultural Festival in Vancouver and performances by Taiwan's Cloud Gate Dance Theater as an effort in cultural diplomacy. The president said that this marked the first time that an ROC first lady had visited Canada in 67 years, with the last visit before that made by Madame Chiang Kai-shek (蔣宋美齡) in 1943. President Ma pointed out that bilateral trade between Taiwan and Canada last year stood at about US$6.7 billion, which was about 34% higher than the US$5 billion recorded in the previous year. He expressed his confidence that efforts by both sides will enable the volume of trade to increase even further in the future.
President Ma stated that Taiwan's Representative to Canada David T. Lee (李大維) has been extremely active in promoting bilateral cooperation and interaction. He expressed his hopes that the visitors will continue to provide support to Taiwan and that bilateral contacts will cover an even broader area, thereby enabling bilateral relations to move further ahead.
The delegation included MP and Parliamentary Secretary for Multiculturalism Chungsen Leung, MP and Chair of the Canada-Taiwan Friendship Group John Weston, MP Ron Cannan, MP Ron Brown, MP Brian Storseth, and MP Joe Daniel.