On the morning of May 16, President Ma Ying-jeou attended the opening ceremonies of the 2013 International Law Association (ILA)-American Society of International Law (ASIL) Asia-Pacific Research Forum. The president stated that Taiwan uses peaceful means to resolve controversies, citing as examples its handling of cross-strait relations and the Diaoyutai Islets sovereignty dispute. In addition, the president reiterated his calls for the government of the Philippines to take responsibility for the Guang Da Xing No. 28 incident and respond positively to the four demands of the ROC.
With respect to the May 9 incident in which a Philippine government vessel fired upon the Taiwanese fishing vessel Guang Da Xing No. 28, killing a fisherman and causing serious damage to the boat, President Ma emphasized that the indiscriminate use of force by the crew of the Philippine government vessel in overlapping exclusive economic zones of the Philippines and Taiwan was unjustified and illegal under the principles of general international law as well as the provisions of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea of 1982. Such outrageous behavior, he stated, cannot be tolerated by the international community, thus the ROC government has demanded that the government of the Philippines offer a formal apology, provide compensation for the losses, promptly and thoroughly investigate the incident and severely punish those responsible for the killing, and initiate fishery agreement negotiations between the two countries as soon as possible. These four demands, he added, are entirely in accordance with the standards and practices of international law. The Philippine government should own up to its responsibility for the incident and deal with the aftermath, he stressed, but the Philippine government did not respond to the demands within the 72-hour time limit, therefore the ROC has adopted 11 sanctions against the Philippines, including the recall of its representative stationed in the Philippines, imposition of a temporary freeze on all applications by Filipino laborers seeking to work in Taiwan, issuance of a "code red" alert as a warning to tourists from Taiwan considering visiting the Philippines, and suspension of bilateral agricultural, technology, and economic interaction.
President Ma stated that the killing of an unarmed, innocent civilian on the high seas is an act that no civilized nation can tolerate. He said that the ROC is a peace-loving nation that has consistently advocated the adoption of peaceful means to resolve disputes, adding that it has realized this principle on multiple occasions. The president called on the Philippine government to embrace this same attitude and act as a responsible stakeholder.
Because the theme of this year's forum is "International Law and Dispute Resolution: Challenges in the Asia Pacific," the president spoke about how he has used peaceful means since taking office to handle cross-strait relations and the sovereignty dispute over the Diaoyutai Islets.
In discussing cross-strait relations, President Ma stated that after the Chinese Civil War (1927-1937; 1945-1949) ended in 1949, the Communist Party controlled the Chinese mainland while the ROC government retreated to Taiwan. Over the 64 years since then, he said, the mainland and Taiwan have been administered by separate authorities, and though the Communist Party maintains that it overthrew the ROC government and established the "Central People's government of the People's Republic of China," in fact the ROC government has not vanished, the president noted, pointing out that the ROC government still exercises effective rule over Taiwan, Penghu, Kinmen, and Matsu. President Ma noted that the Constitution of the ROC was enacted in 1947, when China was still unified, and was therefore, ipso facto, a "one China" constitution. The ROC Constitution, he said, still indicates that mainland China is "the territory of the Republic of China according to its existing national boundaries." The Chinese mainland still falls within our "existing national boundaries" as referred to in the ROC Constitution, said the president, adding that even with the two sides of the Taiwan Strait under divided rule, the ROC government still could not possibly recognize the existence of another state in our mainland China territory.
President Ma said that cross-strait relations are not state-to-state relations but special relations, which means that the international law issue regarding recognition of states does not even exist in cross-strait relations. However, he said, it is an objective fact that the Communist Party has ruled mainland China for 64 years. We cannot and need not deny that the Communist Party is the actual governing authority of mainland China, he stated. If the two sides denied each other's authority to govern, he asked, how could they possibly interact? The president said that this is why he advocates a policy of "mutual non-recognition of sovereignty, and mutual non-denial of governing authority."
The president further explained that he got the inspiration for the abovementioned policy from the Basis of Relations Treaty signed between East Germany and West Germany in 1972. This article makes no mention of sovereignty ("Souveränität" in German). Instead, it uses the term "Hoheitsgewalt," which means "supreme power" or, in other words, "authority to govern." President Ma said that the principle of "mutual non-recognition of sovereignty, and mutual non-denial of governing authority" is in accordance with the ROC Constitution and is also completely consistent with our mainland policy of maintaining the cross-strait status quo of no unification, no independence, and no use of force under the framework of the ROC Constitution. Moreover, it is also in line with the “1992 Consensus, whereby each side acknowledges the existence of "one China" but maintains its own interpretation of what "one China" means. This is the most pragmatic way to describe and interpret the cross-strait status quo, he said, adding that it is also the best way to reduce mutual hostility, shelve our sovereignty dispute, and foster cross-strait peace.
President Ma further stated that since he took office the two sides of the Taiwan Strait have held eight formal rounds of negotiations and signed 18 agreements that cover such issues as: direct cross-strait postal, transportation, and trade links; visits to Taiwan by mainland Chinese tourists; food safety; the employment of mainland fishing crews; animal and plant quarantine; law enforcement cooperation and mutual judicial assistance; financial supervision of banks and other financial services providers; economic cooperation; and IPR protection. The president said that currently 616 scheduled direct flights operate weekly between cities on the two sides of the Taiwan Strait, compared with only weekend and holiday charters in the past. In addition, the number of annual visits made by mainland Chinese to Taiwan has grown from 270,000 to about 2.5 million, he added. Furthermore, over 17,000 mainland Chinese students were studying in Taiwan as of last year, compared with some 800 when he took office. The president also indicated that joint efforts to combat crime have yielded impressive results. The number of scam cases in Taiwan has dropped by half, he mentioned, and losses caused by scams have been shaved by 75% (NT$14 billion).
The president emphasized that the ROC has adopted pragmatic policies, establishing institutionalized negotiations to gradually establish mutual trust and usher in an unprecedented era of peace between the two sides. In the future, he said, the government will continue to work to expand and deepen cross-strait interaction through means including the mutual establishment of representative offices on each side and a comprehensive review of the Act Governing Relations between the People of the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area. The objective, the president stated, is to achieve peace and prosperity on both sides of the Taiwan Strait.
The president then turned his remarks to the sovereignty dispute over the Diaoyutai Islets. President Ma explained to the experts and scholars in attendance that prior to the Japanese government's move to nationalize the Diaoyutais in September 2012, he had already unveiled his East China Sea Peace Initiative in the preceding month of August, calling on all parties involved to be prudent, shelve controversies, and resolve disputes peacefully, because "sovereignty over national territory cannot be compromised, but natural resources can be shared," he stated.
President Ma remarked that he had taken part in the Defend the Diaoyutais Movement 40 years ago as a university student, and to this day he still firmly believes that the Diaoyutais belong to the Republic of China, but if this controversy is to be resolved, it will have to be done peacefully. The first step in this process, he said, is for the parties involved to cooperate in the use of living and non-living resources. That is why the ROC and Japan resumed fishing negotiations in September 2012, which ultimately led to the signing of a bilateral fisheries agreement between the two on April 10 of this year. The agreement establishes a joint conservation and management zone where fishermen from both sides can operate. With respect to the sovereignty dispute, the president commented, the agreement includes a "no prejudice" clause which stipulates that there is nothing in the fisheries agreement that could prejudice other legal claims by either side. President Ma said that the signing of this agreement for the first time points to a possible way to deal with the 40-year sovereignty dispute over the Diaoyutais, and establishes a good model for the handling of similar territorial disputes of national territory.
The president stated that the experience of history tells us that if international controversies are to be resolved peacefully, the disputing parties must acknowledge reality, shelve controversies, and respect international law. President Ma remarked that the ROC government, in the course of its efforts to improve cross-strait relations and resolve its fishing disputes with Japan, has clearly shown itself to be a peacemaker, thus proving both in theory and in practice that we are in fact capable of playing this role.
Among those attending the opening ceremonies of the conference were ILA Treasurer and German Branch President Torsten Stein, Co-Chair Edmund Sim of the ASIL's Pacific Rim Interest Group, National Chengchi University Vice President Bih-jaw Lin (林碧炤), and Chinese (Taiwan) Society of International Law President Chun-I Chen (陳純一), and Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Simon Shen-Yeaw Ko (柯森耀).