President Ma Ying-jeou met on the morning of August 28 with the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff of the Armed Forces of Honduras Maj. Gen. Rene Arnoldo Osorio Canales and Mrs. Osorio. Besides emphasizing that the first line of defense in the ROC's security is "cross-strait rapprochement," the president reiterated that his stance on the issue of the Diaoyutai islands is based on the principles of "safeguarding sovereignty, shelving disputes, pursuing peace and reciprocity, and promoting joint exploration and development."
In remarks, the president commented that Maj. Gen. Osorio previously visited Taiwan in 2009 to take part in a training course organized by the Ministry of National Defense for officials from friends and allies in Latin America and the Caribbean. The following year, Maj. Gen. Osorio accompanied Honduran President Porfirio Lobo Sosa on a state visit to Taiwan. This marks his third visit to Taiwan, and the president said he hopes that Maj. Gen. Osorio will meet with a wide variety of people during this visit to further strengthen cooperation in military affairs between the ROC and Honduras.
The president stated that the ROC and Honduras have diplomatic relations dating back to 1941, and the alliance between the two is quite stable. He noted that two years ago he visited Honduras to participate in the inaugural ceremonies for President Lobo. The president added that Honduras last year for the first time dispatched a naval attaché, Col. Oscar Victor Puerto Martinez, to be stationed in the ROC. This marked a new milestone in the alliance between the two countries and has been conducive to military exchanges between the ROC and Honduras, he said.
In mentioning strategic defense issues concerning the ROC, President Ma stressed that since taking office, he has made every effort to strengthen cross-strait relations and reduce tension in the Taiwan Strait in order to ensure peace in the East Asian region. At present, he said, each year over seven million people travel between the two sides of the Taiwan Strait, which marks the closest relationship between the two sides in history. However, the president mentioned an ancient saying: "Even in times of peace, it is dangerous to forget war." Consequently, the president said, the ROC still must place heavy emphasis on military preparedness and actively institute a strategic policy of having a strong defense to serve as an effective deterrence.
President Ma believes that the first line of defense in national security for the ROC is not national strength, but rather cross-strait rapprochement. He said that the foremost goal is to ensure that the other side will not resort to non-peaceful means to resolve disputes between the two sides. This is the highest state of national defense, he stated. With respect to the recent dispute over sovereignty of the Diaoyutai islands in the East China Sea, President Ma reiterated the principles of "safeguarding sovereignty, shelving disputes, pursuing peace and reciprocity, and promoting joint exploration and development." The president emphasized that the ROC will absolutely not budge on its sovereignty over the Diaoyutais, but that in the interest of regional security, the ROC is willing to use peaceful means to find a win-win solution to the dispute. This, he said, conforms to the principle enshrined in the United Nations when it was founded 67 years ago that international disputes should be resolved via peaceful means.
Maj. Gen. Osorio's delegation, which also included Honduran ambassador to the ROC Mario Alberto Fortin Midence and Mrs. Fortin, and Defense Attaché Col. Puerto, was accompanied to the Presidential Office by Minister of National Defense Kao Hua-chu (高華柱) and Chief of the General Staff Lin Jan-yi (林鎮夷) to meet President Ma. Also attending the meeting was National Security Council Deputy Secretary-General Lu Hsiao-jung (陸小榮).