Good evening!
It is a great privilege for me to be invited to attend the 2012 Europe Day Dinner. On behalf of the government and people of the Republic of China, I would like to extend my sincere congratulations to the European Union and its 27 members on the EU’s 55th anniversary. So, happy birthday, EU!
As early as the Middle Ages, European scholars began calling for the harmonization of ideas among the peoples of Europe. But emergence of nation states caused endless wars on the continent. This eventually led visionary statesmen in the last century, such as Robert Schuman, to advocate the concept of an integrated Europe, a lofty ideal that finally came to fruition after nearly half a century of struggle.
The European Union can be considered “the greatest example of political integration in the history of mankind.” It succeeded in integrating the common interests, cultures, and histories of Europeans, and created the conditions for sustainable peace. Moreover, as a promoter of democracy and human rights, as well as a successful model for economic integration, the EU has played a significant role in the formation of a new international order. It has also provided an instructive example to the government of the Republic of China.
You may ask me what we've learned from European experience. Well, first of all, the paramount value is peace, and this has led us to find a way to seek peace with mainland China. So, after I assumed office four years ago, I started to improve relations with the Chinese mainland. I announced a policy toward the mainland on the basis of "no unification, no independence, and no use of force" under the framework of the Republic of China Constitution, and have promoted peaceful development between the two sides on the basis of the "1992 Consensus," meaning "one China, respective interpretations." You may not know what that means. It used to be called a masterpiece of ambiguity. That means each side of the Taiwan Strait recognizes that there is one China, but we differ on the definition of that China. Only by doing that, can we really promote a peaceful development between the two sides. What we've actually learned is not only the process of integration among the European countries, from coal and steel cooperation, to a customs union, to a common market, to the European Economic Community, and then eventually to a monetary association. We've also learned from the German experience. As you know, in the last century the two Germanys reached a very important treaty in 1972, under which each side recognized the territory of the other side, but not the sovereignty. The Germans are very legalistic in their mindset. They didn't use the word "sovereignty," but instead used a new word, "supreme power," which is "hoheitsgewalt" in German. So, they distinguished between "sovereignty" and "supreme power." That is a very useful concept for us in dealing with the Chinese mainland. Based on the idea I just told you — "one China, respective interpretations," we developed a new idea of non-recognition of sovereignty, but non-denial of governing authority. Only by doing that, can we really deal with the other side.
For instance, ever since we started the very difficult negotiation on the economic cooperation agreement between the two sides of the Taiwan Strait, our ministers or political vice ministers have been able to just pick up the phone and talk to their counterparts in the Chinese mainland, without having to worry about whether that constitutes recognition. They just go ahead and do it. And that is actually thanks to the idea of "mutual non-recognition of sovereignty" but "mutual non-denial of governing authority." Just by doing that, we have been able to conclude 16 agreements with mainland China covering trade, navigation, medical cooperation, and, most surprisingly, a joint effort to combat crime across the Taiwan Strait — mutual judicial assistance. That actually created a situation where conflict is replaced by negotiation. And we've been able to create peace and prosperity across the Taiwan Strait. So I really want to thank my German friends in providing such a wonderful distinction between sovereignty and supreme power, so that we could continue the dialogue and other dealings with the Chinese mainland.
And as the two gentlemen before me have put it, Taiwan has developed a very fruitful relationship with the European Union. Last year our bilateral trade was 52.5 billion US dollars, and the total investment by the 27 countries of the European Union in Taiwan exceeded 30 billion US dollars. The European Union is our fourth largest trading partner. So in the next four years, you may ask me, "what are you going to do?" I won't let you know the details until Sunday. But I will let you know the general framework of my policy. One very important aspect is free trade — trade liberalization. Actually we have been talking about free trade for almost 30 years, but we haven't done enough. So ever since we concluded ECFA, the Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement, with the Chinese mainland two years ago, many doors have opened. We started negotiating an economic partnership agreement with Singapore. It is an ongoing process. And we also started negotiating a similar agreement with New Zealand. We actually already concluded an investment protection and liberalization agreement with Japan. You know, Japan has invested in Taiwan for 60 years, but never for a moment in the past had they considered concluding an agreement with us. Precisely because we entered into an ECFA with the mainland, the Japanese considered it time for them to have such an agreement, so that they could take full advantage of ECFA: manufacture in Taiwan and export to the Chinese mainland.
So, the next step for us is to explore the possibility of having a trade or economic cooperation agreement with the European Union. I thank you very much, Mr. James; you mentioned that. And we hope we could explore the feasibility further. I am sure an agreement of this sort could have the effect many economists have already told us about — trade creation, not trade diversion. And I think in other parts of the world, such as Southeast Asia, we are also making contact with countries where we are doing some feasibility studies individually, and eventually we will together study the effect of having such an arrangement.
So, trade liberalization will be a very important policy of my administration the next four years. We hope the Republic of China will be able to join the TPP, the Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement, in eight years. But we have to lay the foundation for joining such a high-quality free trade agreement. We are not ready yet. But we will be. And what we should do, what we should change, in some people's minds, is the protectionist mindset. If we want to enjoy the benefits of exporting to a certain country, we must also be ready to accept products from that country. This is a reciprocal process. We joined the WTO in 2002, so we understand the rules, but ever since we joined, the WTO seems to have ceased functioning in a substantial way. Everybody resorts to bilateral free trade agreements, which is actually our weakness because of the diplomatic situation. But ever since two years ago when we opened the door with mainland China, we have had more opportunities to explore the possibility of having FTAs with other countries. So, that will be the major effort of the government — to increase, to strengthen — Taiwan's competitiveness. So EU is one of priority groups that we will focus on in the future.
We also want to take advantage of this opportunity to thank the European Union, the European Parliament, for passing so many statements, so many declarations, in support of my country's meaningful participation in international organizations, such as WHA, the World Health Assembly, such as ICAO, the International Civil Aviation Organization, and activities of United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. I particularly want to thank you for granting our travelers the visa-free status. I'll just let you know a very important development. We got that status in January last year. If you count the period from March last year to March this year, the visitors to the European Union went up 47%. I assure you that all of our visitors are very serious shoppers.
We have also been able to conclude two holiday working agreements with Germany and the UK. We certainly welcome more opportunities of this kind. Take the Germany example. The original agreement provided for only 200 people, but it was filled out after just a few hours. So the number was raised to 700. We certainly have more young people wanting to go to Europe to work and to have holidays over there. So I hope — from other countries — you are welcome to conclude similar arrangements with us. And we also want to let you know how much we appreciate your culture, your art, your philosophy, and other aspects of your history. So, ladies and gentlemen, I invite everyone to join me in a toast for a very good, very cordial, and very sustainable relations between the Republic of China and European Union. Cheers! A votre santé! Zum wohl! ¡Salud!
By the way, after having heard the wonderful speech of Mr. Chris James, I will seriously consider retaining him as my national policy advisor.