President Ma Ying-jeou met on the morning of October 30 with a delegation headed by European Conservatives and Reformists Group Chair Martin Callanan. In addition to expressing strong praise for the support of the European Union (EU) for the East China Sea Peace Initiative proposed by the ROC (Taiwan), President Ma also stressed that Taiwan is committed to resolving the controversy in the East China Sea in a peaceful manner.
In remarks, the president stated that over the past four months, the sovereignty dispute over the Diaoyutai Islets has caused tensions in the East China Sea. Catherine Ashton, High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, issued a press release on September 25 regarding this topic in which the opinions she expressed were in the same spirit as those of the East China Sea Peace Initiative proposed by Taiwan, the president said. Both sides have expressed their desire to see the dispute shelved and for peaceful means to be used to solve the controversy and avoid further confrontation, he stated. European Parliament-Taiwan Friendship Group Chairman Charles Tannock has also expressed his support in this regard, the president noted.
President Ma furthermore stated that the ROC's Ministry of Foreign Affairs on October 10 published the East China Sea Peace Initiative in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, and The Los Angeles Times, adding that this measure has attracted considerable attention. The president expressed his hopes that the controversy in the East China Sea can be resolved in the same way the North Sea dispute was resolved by European nations. He said he hopes that all sides involved will agree to shelve the dispute, work to jointly develop resources in the area, and share the resources.
President Ma emphasized that as a student he specialized in law of the sea and also devoted research to island systems. He stated that Taiwan will staunchly adopt the content and procedures set forth in the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, with peaceful measures used to resolve the dispute.
Turning the topic to economic and trade relations with the EU, the president pointed out that the EU is Taiwan's fourth largest trading partner and, as a bloc, constitutes Taiwan's largest source of foreign investment, which presently stands at over US$30.2 billion. Taiwan, for its part, is the seventh largest trading partner of the EU in Asia and the 19th largest in the world. Bilateral trade last year reached US$52.6 billion, up 8% from the previous year, he said. The president expressed his hopes that substantive progress can be made on an economic cooperation agreement between the two sides in order to further enhance the mutual trade and economic relationship.
President Ma also mentioned that the EU last year began granting visa-free entry to ROC nationals. Since then, the number of people from Taiwan visiting EU nations has risen by some 30-40%, he said, furthermore pointing out that the EU's move helped to spark similar decisions by other countries. In particular, the president said, the United States on November 1 will formally begin including Taiwan in its Visa Waiver Program. With this move, 98% of the countries and areas most frequented by ROC nationals will offer citizens here visa-free courtesies, he stated, adding that this is paving the way for more people from Taiwan to travel to all corners of the world.
In addition to Conservatives and Reformists Group Chair Callanan, the delegation also included Conservatives and Reformists Group Vice Chair Derk Jan Eppink, and Members of Parliament Richard Ashworth, Lajos Bokros, Anna Rosbach, and Struan Stevenson. The delegation was escorted to the Presidential Office by European Economic and Trade Office Head Frederic Laplanche 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).