President Ma Ying-jeou met on the evening of May 20 with former US Assistant Secretary of State for Public Affairs Philip J. Crowley and Mrs. Crowley. In addition to explaining the achievements in cooperation and interaction between Taiwan and the United States thus far, the president also urged the Philippine government to commence a joint investigation with Taiwan on the recent fishing boat incident under the Agreement on Mutual Legal Assistance in Criminal Matters signed by Taiwan and the Philippines. This, he said, would expose the facts of the Guang Da Xing No. 28 incident, in which a Philippine government vessel fired upon the Taiwanese vessel, killing a Taiwanese fisherman and causing serious damage to the fishing boat.
In remarks, the president commented that former Assistant Secretary of State Crowley previously visited Taiwan in 2001 and 2006, and thoroughly understands the situation here. The president also referred to Mr. Crowley as a sincere friend to Taiwan, whom he was extremely pleased to be seeing on May 20, the fifth anniversary of his inauguration as president.
President Ma stated that five years ago upon taking office, he immediately took steps to improve relations between Taiwan and the United States, which helped renew mutual trust between the two countries at the highest levels. The president added that his administration has adopted a "low key, no surprises" approach to bilateral ties, and noted that significant strides have been made. The president specifically pointed to former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's remark two years ago that Taiwan is an important security and economic partner of the United States. This statement, he said, is an apt description of the close relationship between the two countries at present.
On the topic of bilateral cooperation, President Ma first discussed security issues. He said that since he has been in office, the United States has agreed to sell arms to Taiwan on three occasions in deals valued at a total of over US$18 billion. Military ties are so close, he said, that the relationship could be described as a partnership. In addition, the United States has faithfully enforced the Taiwan Relations Act, which was enacted 34 years ago, he noted, adding that it has also abided by the "Six Assurances." The president specially recognized the efforts of the United States in this regard. He further stated that in March of this year, Taiwan and the United States resumed negotiations under the Trade and Investment Framework Agreement (TIFA) that had been stalled for over five years. This has opened a new era in economic and trade relations between the two sides, he remarked, further expressing hope that when the conditions are right, Taiwan will be able to join the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP).
President Ma also thanked the United States for helping Taiwan to participate in the World Health Assembly (WHA). He pointed out that Taiwan has sent a representative to attend the annual meeting of the WHA for five consecutive years, and that Minister of Health Wen-Ta Chiu (邱文達) was currently in Geneva, Switzerland to attend its 66th assembly. President Ma also commented that early this year Taiwan and the United States completed the most comprehensive revision of the bilateral Agreement on Privileges, Exemptions and Immunities since 1980. These changes will afford greater protections to diplomatic personnel from the ROC stationed in the United States, which the president said he is extremely pleased to see.
The president remarked that Taiwan and the United States share a longstanding friendship and embrace the same core values, and he expressed hope that relations will continue to move forward. In particular, he mentioned, inclusion of Taiwan in the US Visa Waiver Program has made it much easier for ROC nationals to visit the United States, which is sure to significantly boost bilateral economic, trade, and cultural ties.
President Ma stated that relations between the two sides of the Taiwan Strait have improved considerably since he took office. To date, the two sides have signed 18 agreements and reached two points of consensus. Furthermore, concrete achievements have been seen in a variety of areas, he said, pointing to the example of direct flights between the two sides. Each day there are over 80 scheduled flights across the Taiwan Strait, he noted, and over a month ago when a case of H7N9 avian flu was discovered here, Taiwan received much more cooperation than 10 years ago during the SARS outbreak. This time, he said, the two sides immediately got in contact. Experts from Taiwan were able to go to mainland China to collect information, and mainland China provided samples of the virus so that Taiwan could develop a vaccine. This level of cooperation was unprecedented, he commented.
The president mentioned that Taiwan's work to improve cross-strait relations has fostered peace in the Taiwan Strait and also brought about progress in Taiwan's relations with other nations. Taiwan and Japan, for example, recently signed a fisheries agreement, thus resolving a 40-year fishing rights dispute in the seas around the Diaoyutai Islets. President Ma stated that Taiwan did not cede one inch on its claim to sovereignty over the Diaoyutais, yet it was able to achieve a major step forward in its fishing rights in the area. This is a perfect example of how the East China Sea Peace Initiative that he unveiled in August 2012 can be acted upon to peacefully resolve a dispute, he said.
President Ma then turned the topic to the attack upon a Taiwanese fishing boat by a Philippine government vessel on May 9 when the Taiwanese boat was operating in Taiwan's exclusive economic zone. The Philippine vessel fired upon the Taiwanese boat with automatic weapons, striking it with over 50 rounds and causing the boat to lose power. Even worse, a Taiwanese fisherman was killed, he said. The president stressed that the Philippine vessel used grossly excessive force and violated the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. In fact, he said, the killing was intentional, which is why the ROC issued four demands to the Philippines, namely: to offer a formal apology; to provide compensation for the losses; to promptly and thoroughly investigate the incident and severely punish those responsible for the killing; and to initiate fishery negotiations between the two countries as soon as possible. As the Philippine government did not respond appropriately to the demands, the ROC adopted 11 sanctions. The president urged the Philippines to reach agreement on this issue with the ROC government as soon as possible to quickly bring this incident to an end.
President Ma further noted that Taiwan and the Philippines in April this year just signed an Agreement on Mutual Legal Assistance in Criminal Matters, so Taiwan hopes to engage in a joint investigation with the Philippines under the framework of this agreement, thereby exposing exactly what happened and providing closure to the family of the fisherman who was killed. The president added that the two sides should engage in fishery negotiations as soon as possible to avoid the recurrence of a similar incident. He said that Taiwan is committed to taking every measure to protect its fishermen, but still hopes to resolve disputes in a peaceful manner, since the ROC after all is a peace-loving nation.
Former Assistant Secretary of State Crowley and Mrs. Crowley were accompanied to the Presidential Office by Deputy Director Brent Christensen of the Taipei Office of the American Institute in Taiwan to meet President Ma. Also attending the meeting were National Security Council Deputy Secretary-General Philip Y. M. Yang (楊永明) and Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Ting Joseph Shih (石定).