On the evening of October 31, in the company of Legislative Yuan President Wang Jin-pyng (王金平), President Ma Ying-jeou attended a reception at the Taipei Guest House to celebrate Taiwan's inclusion in the US Visa Waiver Program. The president stressed that the formal implementation of the measure will help to restart negotiations between Taiwan and the United States under the Trade and Investment Framework Agreement (TIFA), and also to create the conditions for Taiwan's eventual entry into the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP).
In remarks, the president stated that the United States has set November 1 as the date that Taiwan's inclusion in the Visa Waiver Program will formally take effect. He is confident that once ROC nationals can freely enter the United States, there will be faster growth in bilateral ties on a number of fronts. In particular, the United States is Taiwan's third largest trading partner and its largest source of foreign investment. With the inclusion of Taiwan in the US Visa Waiver Program, the people of Taiwan now enjoy visa-free courtesies or can obtain landing visas in 129 jurisdictions around the globe representing 98% of the places most frequented by ROC citizens. President Ma added that this measure will also help to restart negotiations between the ROC and the United States under the TIFA, and also to create conditions that will eventually enable Taiwan to enter the TPP, while spurring the development of even closer relations with the United States.
President Ma noted that four years ago when he took office for his first term as president, he immediately expressed his desire to create a peaceful and prosperous external environment for Taiwan. Besides actively working to improve relations between the two sides of the Taiwan Strait, the ROC has also sought closer contacts throughout the international community. This work is gradually bearing fruit. US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, for example, stated at the East West Center during the APEC meetings in Honolulu, Hawaii last year that Taiwan is an important security and economic partner of the United States.
The president also commented that the date of the inclusion of Taiwan in the US Visa Waiver Program—November 1, i.e. the 1st day of the 11th month—is something of a numerical coincidence. For one thing, the implementation last year of visa-free entry for ROC nationals to the European Union, took place on January 11—i.e. the 11th day of the 1st month. In addition, former ROC Ambassador to the United States Wei Tao-ming (魏道明) on January 11, 1943 in Washington D.C. signed a new treaty of equality and reciprocity with the United States, which abolished all unequal treaties between the two countries, including a measure that dated back to 1906 that granted extraterritorial rights to American citizens in China. This began to change what Dr. Sun Yat-sen, the founding father of the ROC, had described as China's quasi-colonial status. The ROC eventually became a founding member of the United Nations and one of the world's five major powers.
The president stressed that "when a nation is respected, its people will have dignity." He pointed out that the ROC 69 years ago moved from being a nation with limited international status to one with a normal international position. Now, applying for visas is simply part of the standard process when people travel to other countries. Visa-free status, however, is a courtesy. That the United States will now provide visa-free status to the people of Taiwan represents special treatment, the president stated, adding that this is an important milestone that our people should feel very pleased about.
Moments later, President Ma and Legislative Yuan President Wang, along with Secretary-General to the President Timothy Chin-tien Yang (楊進添), National Security Council Secretary-General Jason C. Yuan (袁健生), Minister of Foreign Affairs David Y. L. Lin (林永樂), US Under Secretary of Commerce for International Trade Francisco Sanchez, and American Institute in Taiwan Taipei Office Director Christopher J. Marut jointly participated in the ceremony to mark the inclusion of Taiwan in the US Visa Waiver Program. All those present raised their glasses and toasted the progression of the bilateral relationship to a new level.
Earlier in the evening, Vice President Wu Den-yih also attended the event and watched a dance performance by students from Juang Jing Vocational High School. He also witnessed a 70-year-old woman demonstrate how to use the Electronic System for Travel Authorization (ESTA) that will replace the travel documents heretofore needed by ROC nationals.