On the afternoon of February 18, President Ma Ying-jeou attended a reception at the Grand Hotel in Taipei for the heads of Taiwan-invested enterprises based in mainland China. In addition to wishing the participants a happy lunar new year, President Ma reiterated that the government will continue to promote its cross-strait policy under the "1992 Consensus," whereby each side acknowledges the existence of "one China" but maintains its own interpretation of what that means. He added that Taiwan will strive to expand and strengthen cross-strait ties, will address the issue of each side establishing cross-strait representative offices, and intends to carry out a comprehensive review of and undertake revisions to the Act Governing Relations between the People of the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area.
In remarks, the president first stated that while on his way to the Grand Hotel to attend the event, he noticed an advertisement on the side of a bus with a picture of renminbi bills, the mainland Chinese currency. A picture of Mao Zedong was featured on the bills, he noted, which marks an enormous change in the climate here given that this would have been anathema for many decades in Taiwan. President Ma stated that this highlights the huge changes in the atmosphere of cross-strait ties, adding that steps toward reconciliation are helping to bring peace and prosperity to the two sides of the Taiwan Strait.
President Ma noted that mainland Chinese made some 2.58 million visits to Taiwan last year, and 7.17 million visits over the past four years. The president furthermore pointed out that 200,000 visits to Taiwan were made by mainlanders on their own and not as part of groups last year, which set a new high. He stated that mainlanders accounted for about 30% of all visits to Taiwan, thus mainland China represents one of the largest sources of visitors to Taiwan. This further highlights the closeness of ties between the people of the two sides, he added.
The president furthermore stated that the number of tourist arrivals to Taiwan grew from 3.72 million in 2007 to 7.31 million last year. Amid this doubling of tourist arrivals, the number of tourists from mainland China, Hong Kong, Macao, Japan, Southeast Asia, Europe, and the Americas continues to increase, he remarked. This indicates that Taiwan offers an open climate, said the president, who mentioned that investment in Taiwan's tourism industry nevertheless remains inadequate. Fortunately, he noted, private investment in this regard is increasing. The president pointed to statistics showing that one job is created for every 24 tourists to Taiwan. Consequently, very many jobs have been created last year as a result of mainland Chinese tourists coming to Taiwan, he said. In addition, the amount of mainland investment in Taiwan is also growing, the president stated, remarking that this proves that cross-strait peace helps to bring business opportunities and progress.
With respect to further expanding and strengthening cross-strait economic and trade ties, the president stated, last year the two sides signed the Cross-Strait Bilateral Investment Protection and Promotion Agreement and the Cross-Strait Customs Cooperation Agreement, along with the Memorandum on Currency Clearing Cooperation Across the Straits. These three accords will do much to boost cross-strait investment and trade, he said. Furthermore, the president mentioned that the government is also actively pursuing follow-up talks under the Cross-Straits Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement (ECFA), to cover such matters as trade in goods, trade in services, and the settlement of disputes. Taiwan businesses in mainland China will also benefit from progress in this area, he said.
The president then turned to the topic of mainland Chinese students coming to Taiwan to pursue their studies. President Ma pointed out that Taiwan still has a policy of "Three Restrictions and Six Prohibitions," but, these restrictions will gradually be eased. The president commented that at present Taiwan only recognizes degrees from 41 mainland Chinese schools. The goal in the future, however, is for Taiwan to recognize the degrees of all universities and colleges included in the mainland's Project 211, which promotes educational excellence. He said that Taiwan will recognize degrees from 111 mainland Chinese schools, adding that Taiwan hopes this year to allow mainland Chinese junior college students to study here. This, he said, will increase academic interaction and cooperative opportunities between the two sides in the area of education, further pointing out that healthy competition among students from the two sides will promote academic excellence and create a foundation for peace between the two sides.
Regarding the establishment of cross-strait representative offices, President Ma pointed out that nearly seven million people travel between the two sides each year either for tourism or business purposes. Mainland China is the area with which the people of Taiwan have the most frequent contact, he said. Consequently, the president expressed hope that Taiwan's Straits Exchange Foundation will be able to set up offices in major cities throughout mainland China to provide assistance to Taiwan-invested enterprises, Taiwan students, and Taiwan tourists. In addition, in light of today's brand new phase in cross-strait relations, President Ma said, the government will carry out a comprehensive review of and make revisions to the Act Governing Relations between the People of the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area so that cross-strait relations can move forward in a steady manner.
The president also emphasized that Taiwan will continue to promote regional economic cooperation. He stated that Taiwan is in the final stages of negotiations with Singapore and New Zealand on economic cooperation agreements, and continues to exchange opinions on related issues with ASEAN and European nations with the hope of promoting Taiwan's trade and economic liberalization. The president also mentioned that the government sincerely hopes to participate in multilateral economic and trade liberalization systems, including the US-led Trans-Pacific Partnership and the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership launched by ASEAN, mainland China, Japan, and Korea. Taiwan, he said, desires to eventually become a party to these multilateral agreements.
President Ma acknowledged that Taiwan's economy has been sluggish over the past year. Towards the end of last year, however, the economy began to show signs of improving, with export orders in the last quarter rebounding handsomely, he said. In addition, exports were quite buoyant in January of this year and Taiwan's composite economic indicator continues to be in the "green light" stage, signaling healthy growth, he indicated. The president pointed to the key Taiwan Purchasing Managers' Index, which rose from 51% in December last year to 57% in January this year. This shows that Taiwan still maintains competitive advantages, the president said. He cautioned, however, that the government cannot rest on its laurels, and called on the new Cabinet to ensure that Taiwan's economy continues to strengthen.
The president stressed that the main administrative goal of the government in the future will be to continue to boost the economy. The government will make every effort to promote industrial development here, he said. In addition, he remarked, the Ministry of Economic Affairs and the Straits Exchange Foundation will also do whatever they can to address problems facing Taiwan businesses in mainland China with regard to labor, taxes, land procurement, and insufficient cross-strait charter flights during the lunar new year period. President Ma noted that the signing of 18 agreements between the two sides has created the conditions to tackle related problems, adding that the government will always work to create the best business conditions possible for Taiwan-invested enterprises in the mainland.
Lastly, the president mentioned that on the previous day he wrote on a sky lantern a verse in which he welcomed the spring and expressed his hopes for a buoyant economy and happiness for all. It would be wonderful, said President Ma, if the lantern would bring peace, good fortune, unity, and progress to Taiwan.
Among those attending the event were Chairman Lin Join-sane (林中森) of the Straits Exchange Foundation (SEF), SEF Vice Chairman and Secretary-General Kao Koong-lian (高孔廉), Chairman Sheng Hsiung Hsu (許勝雄) of the Chinese National Federation of Industries, Chairman Chang Pen-Tsao (張平沼) of the General Chamber of Commerce of the ROC, Chairman Kuo Shan-hui (郭山輝) of the Association of Taiwan Investment Enterprises on the Mainland, Secretary-General to the President Timothy Chin-tien Yang (楊進添), National Security Council Secretary-General Jason C. Yuan (袁健生), and representatives of the heads of government agencies such as the Executive Yuan's Mainland Affairs Council, the Ministry of Economic Affairs, and the Ministry of Finance.