President Ma Ying-jeou met on the morning of December 6 with former US Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs Christopher R. Hill and Mrs. Hill, and Professor and Executive Director of the Center for China-US Cooperation at Josef Korbel School of International Studies at the University of Denver Suisheng Zhao (趙穗生) and Mrs. Zhao. The president explained the government's achievements in its efforts in recent years to improve relations with mainland China and the United States. President Ma also reiterated that the ROC is presently drafting an East China Sea Code of Conduct with the hope of turning the East China Sea into a sea of peace and cooperation.
In remarks, the president stated that in March 2006 he visited the United States in his capacity as chairman of the Kuomintang and Taipei City mayor. He remarked that on that visit he was accompanied by former Taiwan Representative to the US Jason C. Yuan (袁健生) to meet with Ambassador Hill. President Ma said that he is delighted that six years later he is able to again meet with Ambassador Hill, but this time in his capacity as president of the ROC.
President Ma noted that six years ago he explained to Ambassador Hill how he intended to conduct relations with mainland China and the United States should he become president. Much of this agenda has been achieved, he stated. With regard to cross-strait relations, President Ma said, within 20 days of his inauguration in 2008, Taiwan and mainland China resumed institutionalized consultations that had been suspended for over 10 years. The two sides, he remarked, have since then signed 18 agreements and reached two points of consensus on issues such as direct flights between Taiwan and mainland China, and allowing mainland Chinese tourists to visit Taiwan. To date, mainland Chinese have made 4.5 million visits to Taiwan, with the number of visits this year alone having already surpassed two million, he stated. In addition, the two sides have made significant strides in mutual judicial assistance and the joint combating of crime, the president said. Over 4,000 criminals have been apprehended, which the president explained has signaled to criminals that they can no longer flee to mainland China as a refuge. As a result, the cross-strait relationship is now more stable and peaceful than at any other time in the past 60 years, the president commented.
With respect to the strengthening of Taiwan-US relations, President Ma furthermore stated, the government here has embraced a "low key, no surprises" approach in working to afford the United States a thorough and up-to-date grasp of the state of Taiwan's ties with the United States and mainland China. The point of this approach is restore trust with the United States at the highest levels, he said. President Ma pointed out that within five months of his inauguration in 2008, former US President George W. Bush approved the sale of over US$6 billion of arms to Taiwan. Meanwhile, since taking office, President Barack Obama has announced two packages of arms sales to Taiwan. These three packages are valued at an aggregate US$18.3 billion, which is the highest amount in the past two decades, President Ma said. This has made cooperation between Taiwan and the United States even smoother and more stable, he stated. At the same time, both sides also have chalked up concrete successes in jointly fighting terrorism, nuclear proliferation, and human trafficking, he remarked.
President Ma also mentioned that a number of high-ranking US officials have visited Taiwan since last year, including US Agency for International Development Administrator Rajiv Shah, the State Department's Bureau of International Information Programs Coordinator Dawn McCall, Assistant Secretary of State for Economic and Business Affairs Jose W. Fernandez, and Under Secretary of Commerce for International Trade at the Department of Commerce Francisco J. Sanchez. In addition, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton also emphasized during the APEC meetings in Honolulu, Hawaii in November of last year that Taiwan is an important security and economic partner of the United States, which the president said highlights the strong improvement in relations between the two sides.
President Ma stated that Taiwan has already opened its doors to imports of US beef, and hopes that in the near future the United States will resume negotiations under the Trade and Investment Framework Agreement. He added that he hopes to gradually promote bilateral cooperation. The president also called on the United States to help Taiwan create the conditions to enable it to join the Trans-Pacific Partnership. At the same time, he promised, Taiwan will not neglect participating in other regional and multilateral economic integration mechanisms, for it hopes to hasten the pace of liberalization and move up the timeframe for integrating itself into the global economic and trade system.
The president also brought up the dispute regarding sovereignty over the Diaoyutai Islets in the East China Sea. He reiterated that the Diaoyutais are an inherent part of the territory of the ROC and are appurtenant islands of Taiwan. But he stated that although sovereignty over national territory cannot be compromised, natural resources can be shared, which is why he unveiled his East China Sea Peace Initiative in hopes that negotiation and dialogue can be used to mitigate possible conflicts. He said that willingness by all parties to shelve the dispute and engage in joint development of resources will help ensure peace and stability in the East China Sea. President Ma stated that the government is presently drafting an East China Sea Code of Conduct with the hope that it will serve as the basis for negotiations between all the claimant parties, thereby turning the East China Sea into a sea of peace and cooperation.
President Ma stressed that the ROC and the United States have had extremely friendly relations over the past century and that the two even joined hands in repelling Japanese aggression during World War II. Bilateral cooperation has continued to develop over the decades, he said, furthermore expressing his hopes that the two sides will continue cooperating and moving forward.
The visitors were accompanied to the Presidential Office by Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Tung Kuoyu (董國猷) to meet President Ma. Also attending the meeting was National Security Council Secretary-General Jason C. Yuan (袁健生).