On the morning of May 31, President Ma Ying-jeou welcomed Republic of Kiribati President Anote Tong and Mrs. Tong, who are leading a delegation from their nation to Taiwan, in a ceremony featuring full military honors. The president called for continued strengthening of the cooperative relationship between the two countries and a lasting alliance.
The welcoming ceremony was held at 10:00 a.m. at Liberty Square in front of the Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall in downtown Taipei. A 21-gun salute was followed by the playing of the national anthems of the two countries, after which the two leaders inspected the tri-service honor guard. President Ma and President Tong then each delivered remarks. Among those attending the ceremony were senior ROC government officials and members of the diplomatic corps stationed in Taiwan.
In remarks, President Ma commented that this marks the first state visit to the ROC by President Tong since his election to another term in office last year, and his 10th visit to Taiwan overall. President Ma added that this year also happens to be the 10th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two nations, which symbolizes the "perfect 10" alliance between the two. President Ma also congratulated Kiribati for formally establishing an embassy in the ROC. Noting that Taiwan is located at the heart of the Asia-Pacific region, with Japan and Korea to the north and the ASEAN nations to the south, President Ma expressed confidence that the advantageous geographic location of Taiwan will help Kiribati carry out its Asia-related policy in the future and promote business opportunities.
President Ma mentioned that both the ROC and Kiribati are island nations, for which reason their territorial waters overlap with those of other countries. Pointing to the example of the ROC and Japan, President Ma said that the two nations had been unable to resolve related disputes for over 40 years. However, the principle he outlined in his East China Sea Peace Initiative regarding the Dioayutai Islets ("safeguarding sovereignty, shelving disputes, pursuing peace and reciprocity, and promoting joint exploration and development") was acted upon when Taiwan and Japan in April of this year signed a fisheries agreement that enables Taiwanese fishermen to operate in an area twice the size of Taiwan. This agreement is in line with the Charter of the United Nations and international law, and promotes peaceful resolution of disputes, he said.
President Tong has already travelled to many parts of Taiwan, so on this visit special arrangements were made for him to visit the Penghu islands. President Ma said that Penghu County was selected as the first place to implement the nation's "Low Carbon Island Project." Many aspects of this initiative are similar to the solar power cooperation project being carried out between the ROC and Kiribati, he commented. The president expressed hope that Taiwan's experience in conserving energy and reducing carbon emissions can help Kiribati reduce its reliance on energy imports.
Shortly after the welcoming ceremony, President Ma held discussions at the Presidential Office with President Tong and Mrs. Tong. President Ma remarked that bilateral ties and cooperation have been extremely close over the 10 years since diplomatic relations were established. In particular, he said, trade between the two nations have tripled in 10 years, which is one of the most important successes since the creation of diplomatic ties between the two. In addition, the president stated, many students and officials from Kiribati each year come to Taiwan to attend courses or undergo training. Presently, 27 students from Kiribati are studying in Taiwan, he said, adding that these individuals constitute seeds that will help to establish even stronger ties between the two countries. For instance, the president noted, Maiaa Iona, who was dispatched as the advance party prior to the formal establishment of the Kiribati embassy, earned his bachelor's and master's degrees here. President Ma expressed hope that even stronger interaction of this sort will be seen between the two sides.
With respect to bilateral cooperation projects, President Ma stated, the two sides maintain close cooperation in the development of safe energy, solar power applications, and environment protection. Since 2010, the ROC has provided Kiribati with 7,500 portable solar-powered lamps and 2,330 15-watt solar panels to encourage the public there to take advantage of the abundant solar power resources of Kiribati and to raise the use of renewable energy, he said. In addition, the president mentioned, the ROC is carrying out an oil tank replacement project in Kiribati. Under this initiative, the ROC has provided AU$5 million to help Kiribati update its national oil storage tanks, thereby enhancing its energy stocks, the president noted.
President Ma mentioned that 14 international aviation routes cross Taiwan's airspace and that each year Taiwan's air traffic controllers provide 1.3 million information service messages to aircraft that pass through the Taipei Flight Information Region. Consequently, he said, Taiwan hopes to participate in conferences and activities of the International Civil Aviation Organization as soon as possible in order to ensure the flight safety of aircraft flying through the area. President Ma also expressed his deepest appreciation to Kiribati for speaking on behalf of the ROC at many international venues and supporting meaningful participation for Taiwan in international activities and organizations. He furthermore expressed his desire to see an even closer bilateral relationship and a lasting alliance between the two countries.
President Ma then remarked on the Guang Da Xing No. 28 fishing boat incident in which a Philippine government vessel used automatic weapons to attack an unarmed Taiwanese fishing boat that was operating within the ROC's economic zone south of Taiwan, resulting in the death of a Taiwanese fisherman. The president reiterated that the government has made four demands of 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. The president said that since the response from the Philippines did not meet the demands of the ROC, the government here instituted 11 sanctions against the Philippines to encourage a prompt and positive response. President Ma also mentioned that investigations being carried out in each other's territory are coming to a conclusion, and expressed hope that the results will provide justice to the family of the deceased fisherman and bring this case to a quick end.
The delegation led by President Tong was accompanied to the Presidential Office by Kiribati Ambassador to the ROC Teekoa Iuta to meet President Ma. Also attending the meeting were Secretary-General to the President Timothy Chin-Tien Yang (楊進添), National Security Council Secretary-General Jason C. Yuan (袁健生), Minister of Foreign Affairs David Y. L. Lin (林永樂), and ROC Ambassador to Kiribati Abraham Chu (朱文祥).