President Ma Ying-jeou met on the morning of April 17 with a delegation from the US National Association of Secretaries of State (NASS). In addition to welcoming the visitors on behalf of the government and people of the ROC, the president called for continued strengthening of cooperation and interaction between the two sides, which would help to further enhance relations between Taiwan and the United States.
In remarks, the president expressed his deepest condolences for the bombing incident at the Boston Marathon two days earlier, and strongly condemned the violent act. President Ma commented that he resided in Boston for four and a half years and that he has a deep fondness for the city. He said he was particularly pained that such an incident should take place during the historic Boston Marathon in which so many people participate.
The president stated that a secretary of state is the third highest elected official in each state, after the governor and deputy governor, and is responsible for election affairs, trademarks, business licenses, administrative laws and regulations, and commercial laws and regulations. As such, the president noted, they play a decisive role in a state's administration and economic development.
President Ma further remarked that Taiwan and many US states maintain sister relationships, so Taiwan receives significant support from these states in international affairs. For instance, the president pointed out, the NASS in 2008 passed a resolution supporting participation for the ROC in the World Health Organization. Starting the following year, the president said, Taiwan has each year been invited to attend the World Health Assembly as an observer. The president expressed his deepest appreciation to the association for its strong assistance in this respect, and expressed hope that it will continue to support meaningful participation for Taiwan in the International Civil Aviation Organization and the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change.
The president stated that in the last two years a number of senior American officials and heavyweight Congressional delegations have made visits to Taiwan, including Administrator Rajiv Shah of the US Agency for International Development, Deputy Secretary of Energy Daniel B. Poneman, and Under Secretary Francisco Sanchez for International Trade at the US Department of Commerce. In addition, Deputy US Trade Representative Demetrios Marantis led a delegation to Taiwan last month to hold negotiations associated with the Trade and Investment Framework Agreement, the president said. All of these visits and meetings have marked an excellent start in solidifying cooperative trade and economic ties between the two countries, he commented.
President Ma remarked that over the past four years the United States has agreed on three occasions to sell arms to Taiwan worth an aggregate value of over US$18 billion. In terms of both size and frequency, this represents a high water mark for the period since 1979 when diplomatic relations between the two countries were severed, he said. In addition, these arms sales help strengthen Taiwan's ability to defend itself, the president added. President Ma also mentioned that early this morning he observed a live-fire anti-landing drill in outlying Penghu County. He said that the drill, part of the annual Han Kuang military exercises, made him even more cognizant of the fact that "without the ability to defend oneself, there can be no peace."
The president also pointed out that the US Department of Homeland Security on October 2 of last year formally announced that it was including Taiwan in the US Visa Waiver Program (VWP). Starting on November 1 of the same year, Taiwan became the 37th participating nation in the VWP, and the only one that does not have formal diplomatic ties with the United States. President Ma expressed confidence that interaction between the two countries will continue to increase in the wake of this move, which will enable Taiwan-US relations to become even closer.
President Ma also noted that Taiwan, being situated in the heart of East Asia, is well positioned to become "a global center for innovation," "an economic and trade hub in the Asia-Pacific," and "a regional headquarters for foreign companies." The president said that Taiwan and Southeast Asian nations maintain increasingly close substantive relationships. He noted that as of the end of October of last year, Taiwan had invested some US$85 billion in ASEAN nations. Taiwan is the largest source of foreign investment in Vietnam, the third largest in Thailand, and the fourth largest in Malaysia, he said. This shows how Taiwan can serve as an important bridge to Southeast Asian countries, the president stated.
President Ma remarked that since taking office he has strived to improve relations between the two sides of the Taiwan Strait, which has considerably reduced tensions. In addition, Taiwan and Japan recently completed the signing of a fisheries agreement, which effectively ameliorated the dispute between the two countries with respect to the Diaoyutai Islets in the East China Sea. Both of these examples show that Taiwan is just like the United States in its love for freedom and peace.
The president stressed that five years ago, people widely regarded the Korean Peninsula and the Taiwan Strait as the two potential flash points in East Asia. Today, the tense situation on the Korean Peninsula continues, he said, but by contrast the two sides of the Taiwan Strait are pursuing peace and prosperity, and he hopes that Taiwan will have the opportunity to work even harder to promote peace and stability in East Asia.
The delegation included NASS President and Nevada Secretary of State Ross J. Miller , the Secretary of State of Maine Matthew Dunlap, the Secretary of State of Maryland John McDonough and Mrs. McDonough, the Secretary of State of Montana Linda McCulloch, and the Secretary of State of Kentucky Alison Lundergan Grimes and her husband. The group was accompanied to the Presidential Office by Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Ting Joseph Shih (石定) and Bruce Linghu (令狐榮達), Director-General of the Department of North American Affairs at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to meet President Ma. Also attending the meeting were Secretary-General to the President Timothy Chin-Tien Yang (楊進添) and National Security Council Secretary-General Jason C. Yuan (袁健生).