President Ma Ying-jeou met on the afternoon of December 11 with Kathleen Mackay, the new Executive Director of the Canadian Trade Office in Taipei. On behalf of the government and people of the ROC, the president extended a warm welcome to Executive Director Mackay and expressed his desire for a continued strengthening of friendship between Taiwan and Canada, as well as cooperative relations in a variety of areas.
In remarks, the president noted that Ms. Mackay is a senior professional diplomat with a career that spans 24 years. She previously has been posted to Tokyo, New Delhi, and Brussels, he pointed out, noting that during her home postings in Ottawa she was primarily responsible for trade policy and international market access issues. President Ma stated that in September of this year, prior to assuming her new post, she completed a five-year tenure as the director of the Technical Barriers and Regulations Division of the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade Canada, where she worked on matters associated with market access, free trade negotiations, and trade disputes. The president commented that Ms. Mackay's expertise in economic and trade affairs will be highly beneficial in promoting and enhancing the relationship between the two countries.
The president stated that relations between Taiwan and Canada have improved considerably in recent years since the Conservative Party of Canada came to power. In April 2010, the two countries signed the Taiwan-Canada Memorandum of Understanding on Youth Mobility (i.e. a working holiday agreement), which affords young people from the two countries greater opportunities to engage in a wide range of interaction. In November of the same year, Canada began providing visa-free courtesies to ROC nationals, he said, which resulted in a sharp increase in the number of tourists from Taiwan to that nation. Meanwhile, upon the conclusion of the presidential election here on January 14 of this year, Canada's Minister of Foreign Affairs John Baird delivered a statement of congratulations, recognizing the democratic achievements of Taiwan. Prime Minister Stephen Harper also dispatched a delegation from Canada to attend the presidential inauguration ceremonies on May 20, further pointing to the friendly and close state of bilateral relations, President Ma noted.
President Ma elaborated on the longstanding friendship between Taiwan and Canada. He pointed out that in the 19th century, Reverend Dr. George Leslie Mackay, a Canadian national, came to Taiwan to engage in missionary work and teaching. He also provided dental treatment to countless members of the public here. The president said that in recognition of Dr. Mackay's kindness and contributions, the government specially formulated the Mackay Program , under which any foreigner who has rendered outstanding community service in Taiwan for over 20 years and is over 65 years of age may be eligible to receive the same advantages available to senior citizens here. In addition, the president stated, renowned Canadian athlete Terry Fox, who was fitted with a prosthetic leg after having his natural one amputated, embarked on a cross-Canada run to raise money for cancer research. President Ma stated that he had served for over 10 years as the executive director of a road run in Taiwan connected with the Terry Fox Foundation, and when he served as Taipei City mayor even visited the foundation's headquarters in Toronto.
President Ma pointed out that since taking office over four years ago he has actively sought to improve cross-strait relations while also enhancing the ROC's relations with other nations, including both diplomatic allies and nations with which it does not maintain diplomatic ties, in an effort to build up "cross-strait peace" and "friendly relations with the international community." The president noted that the number of jurisdictions that presently provide ROC nationals with visa-free courtesies has risen to 131, including Canada. Moreover, the president explained, he recently unveiled his East China Sea Peace Initiative in response to the sovereignty dispute over the Diaoyutai Islets. The ROC, he said, has been in the forefront in urging all parties to resolve the dispute in a peaceful manner, with the hope of maintaining peace and stability in the region.
The president also expressed his hope that Canada will continue to support the ROC in its bid to obtain meaningful participation in special-purpose international organizations, including the International Civil Aviation Organization, the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, and the International Atomic Energy Agency.
In discussing the trade and economic relationship between Taiwan and Canada, President Ma noted that Taiwan is Canada's 12th largest trading partner in the world and its fourth largest trading partner in Asia. Bilateral trade last year came to about US$4.6 billion, he remarked, adding that as of September of this year, Canada had invested about US$470 million in Taiwan, while Taiwan's investment in Canada stood at about US$390 million, so economic and trade relations between the two countries continue to move forward. In addition, Taiwan and Canada are presently negotiating an agreement on double taxation avoidance, said the president, who also called for the signing of a Foreign Investment Promotion and Protection Agreement (FIPA) and a free trade agreement. President Ma also said he hopes that Canada will support Taiwan's efforts to participate in the Trans-Pacific Partnership, which he stated will help to further enhance the bilateral trade and economic relationship.
In addition to Executive Director Mackay, the Canadian Trade Office in Taipei also dispatched Director of Trade and Investment Allan Edwards, and Director of General Relations and Public Affairs Jason Reeve, to the meeting. The delegation was escorted by Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Tung Kuoyu (董國猷) to meet the president. Also attending the meeting were Secretary-General to the President Timothy Chin-tien Yang (楊進添) and National Security Council Deputy Secretary-General Philip Y. M. Yang (楊永明).