President Ma Ying-jeou met on the morning of October 29 with former German Federal Minister of Defense and current member of the Bundestag Mr. Franz Josef Jung and Mrs. Jung. In discussing Taiwan's management of the cross-strait relationship and the dispute in the East China Sea, President Ma stated that the experience of Germany has provided valuable pointers on how to handle the matter. President Ma also expressed his desire to see continued promotion of bilateral interaction and cooperation.
In remarks, the president noted that Germany is Taiwan's largest trading partner in Europe. Bilateral cooperation has been quite close in recent years in a number of areas, he said, pointing to last year's signing of a youth working holiday agreement. The president stated that 200 individuals can take part in the program each year and many young people have applied. This shows that Germany holds great attraction for the youth of Taiwan, he said.
The president also stated that Germany is one of the countries in Europe that he has visited most frequently, having traveled to that nation 15 times since 1985. He said that on one trip he visited the representative office established by West Germany in East Germany, getting a deep understanding of the relationship between the two Germanys. President Ma said that what he learned ultimately proved helpful in conducting relations between the two sides of the Taiwan Strait. The president noted that Taiwan referenced the German experience when it formulated the Act Governing Relations between the People of the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area and when it created the Mainland Affairs Council under the Executive Yuan, while making various revisions to these mechanisms based on the particular circumstances faced here. This demonstrates the importance of the German experience to the development of relations between Taiwan and mainland China, he said.
President Ma furthermore commented that the two Germanys in 1972 signed the Basic Treaty, which stabilized the relationship between the two after many years of confrontation. Ultimately, the two sides began moving in 1990 toward reunification. The president said that he visited Germany at that time to understand various issues that arose in the process of unification. He said that the German experience provided food for thought on many fronts and that it offered reference in how he subsequently went about managing cross-strait affairs.
The president expressed his belief that the foundation for stability and peace in Europe over the past 60 years has been not only Germany's efforts to improve its relationship with France, but also its effective handling of the "two Germany issue." These initiatives, among others, are precisely the reason that the European Union was selected for this year's Nobel Peace Prize, the president said.
With respect to the issue of the Diaoyutai Islets, President Ma emphasized that he has already proposed the East China Sea Peace Initiative. In addition to staunchly defending Taiwan's sovereignty over the islets and its fishing rights in the area, the president has strongly advocated the resolution of disputes in a peaceful manner and the joint development and sharing of resources. President Ma said that many throughout the world have already taken note of his proposal.
President Ma also explained to Mr. Jung that Europe's experience in dealing with territorial disputes in the North Sea has also been instructive for Taiwan in its handling of the controversy surrounding the Diaoyutais in the East China Sea. In the 1960s, he said, Germany, Denmark, and the Netherlands sought for the dispute to be settled by the International Court of Justice in The Hague. The famous rulings that were handed down in the North Sea Continental Shelf cases in 1969 helped to resolve a number of important issues. President Ma said he specially respects and admires Germany for the important role it has played in the history of Europe and for providing many key cases for reference for the ROC .
President Ma noted that the delegation being led by Mr. Jung includes a number of old acquaintances. He said that he has deep friendships with them dating back to 1985 when he visited Germany, and has long hoped for these individuals to visit Taiwan to understand conditions here, as well as to continue to promote mutual cooperation and interaction.
In addition to Mr. and Mrs. Jung, the delegation included former president of the German Savings Banks Association Heinrich Haasis, European Business School Prof. Kurt J. Lauk, Confederation of German Employers' Associations Director General Reinhard Goehner, Association of Commercial Broadcasters and Audiovisual Services President Juergen Doetz, and Andenpakt Secretary General Bernd Huck. The group was accompanied to the Presidential Office by German Institute Taipei Director General Michael Zickerick to meet President Ma. Also attending the meeting were National Security Council Advisor Francis Yi-Hua Kan (甘逸驊) and Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs Vanessa Yea-Ping Shih (史亞平).