President Ma Ying-jeou met on the morning of May 21 at the Presidential Office with a congratulatory delegation led by U.S. House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairwoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen. The delegation was in Taiwan to take part in the events associated with the inauguration of the 13th-term president and vice president of the ROC. Also attending the meeting were Vice President Wu Den-yih, National Security Council Secretary-General Hu Wei-jen (胡為真), Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Tung Kuoyu (董國猷), and ROC Representative to the United States Jason C. Yuan (袁健生).
The president stated that Chairwoman Ros-Lehtinen and distinguished members of the House of Representatives from both sides of the aisle have taken advantage of a Congressional recess to form this delegation and come to Taiwan to congratulate him and Vice President Wu. The president said he is deeply moved by the decision of the delegation's members to witness the inauguration, and he furthermore thanked them for their longstanding support for the ROC in Congress. The president particularly expressed his gratitude for getting the draft 2012 Taiwan Policy Act out of committee and on to the full House of Representative, the many requests to the US administration to abide by the "Six Assurances" to Taiwan following the announcement of the August 17, 1982 Communique with mainland China, urging the US government to sell Taiwan F-16C/D fighter jets, and supporting meaningful participation for Taiwan in the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and the International Civil Aviation Organization.
President Ma stated that over the past four years as the government has worked to strengthen its external relationships, it has also placed great importance on ensuring the ROC's military defense. Reconciliation between the two sides of the Taiwan Strait not only can bring peace and prosperity, he said, but also constitutes the first line of Taiwan's defense and security. The president stated that many have applauded the development of cross-strait relations and that the government's proactive efforts to improve relations with the other side of the Taiwan Strait have received the support of political parties across the American political spectrum. President Ma remarked that during a conversation over the telephone between former US President George W. Bush and mainland Chinese leader Hu Jintao in 2008, Mr. Hu clearly expressed his hopes that the two sides of the Taiwan Strait could resume negotiations on the basis of the "1992 Consensus." Under this consensus, each side acknowledges the existence of "one China" but maintains its own interpretation of what that means. Meanwhile, current US President Barack Obama has also agreed twice to the sale of arms to Taiwan. In all, the George W. Bush and Obama administrations have approved arms sales worth US$18.3 billion to Taiwan, which President Ma said highlights the importance that the United States places on Taiwan's security.
The president also stressed that the current relationship between the ROC and the United States is the best that it has been since 1979. For instance, he pointed out that US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton during the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Leaders’ Week in November last year specially emphasized that Taiwan is an important security and economic partner of the United States, which shows that Taiwan's improvement of its relations with the United States, mainland China, and Japan has helped to create a rare level of peace and stability in the Asia-Pacific region. The president also mentioned that US Secretary of Health Kathleen Sebelius during last year's World Health Assembly held a press conference during which she stressed that no specialized organization under the United States has the right to unilaterally decide the status of Taiwan. This further represented strong support by the United States government for Taiwan, the president said.
With respect to the future development of relations between Taiwan and the United States, President Ma expressed his hopes for a continued strengthening of ties based on the present foundation of mutual trust and friendship. He said Taiwan hopes to have an opportunity to join the Trans-Pacific Partnership within eight years. Meanwhile, he also expressed his desire for trade and economic negotiations under the framework of the Trade and Investment Framework Agreement to resume, and for the issue of US beef imports to Taiwan to be resolved. President Ma also said that Taiwan hopes to be formally included in the US Visa Waiver Program as soon as possible. Taiwan, he said, also hopes that the United States will continue to support meaningful participation for Taiwan in the International Civil Aviation Organization and the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change.
In addition to Chairwoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, the delegation also included House of Representatives members Dan Burton, Thad McCotter, Jim Gerlach, Brad Miller and Jean Schmidt. Also joining the delegation was American Institute in Taiwan Acting Director Eric Madison.