President Ma Ying-jeou met on the morning of July 2 with former United States Secretary of Commerce John Bryson, who is presently a Distinguished Senior Public Policy Scholar at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars (Wilson Center). The president welcomed Mr. Bryson to Taiwan and exchanged opinions with him on a range of issues including Taiwan-US relations, climate change, and energy policy.
President Ma first stated that prior to serving as Secretary of Commerce, Mr. Bryson had served as chairman and chief executive officer of Edison International for 18 years. He also has served on the boards of renowned enterprises such as Boeing and Walt Disney. At the same time, in the 1970s he founded the Natural Resources Defense Council, and has a longstanding commitment to alternative energy sources and environmental protection, the president said. President Ma expressed admiration of Mr. Bryson for his promotion of solar power and his enthusiasm in promoting other forms of renewable energy.
With respect to relations between Taiwan and the United States, President Ma noted that former US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton stated in November 2011 during the APEC meetings in Honolulu, Hawaii that Taiwan is an important security and economic partner of the United States. In addition, he pointed out, the United States is Taiwan's third largest trading partner and its third largest export market and source of imports. Meanwhile, Taiwan is the 11th largest trading partner of the United States and its 16th largest export market, with the value of trade in goods between the two countries last year reaching US$63.2 billion. This highlights the deep and far-reaching economic and trade relationship between Taiwan and the United States, he commented. In addition, the Taipei Office of the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) in 2010 received the top two Export Promotion and Commercial Diplomacy Achievement Awards from the US Department of State, he noted, which shows how hard AIT has been working to bolster commerce between the two sides, said the president.
President Ma further stated that the legislature here last July amended legislation that resolved the issue of US beef imports to Taiwan, then in September Taiwan and the United States reached an agreement to resume negotiations under the Trade and Investment Framework Agreement (TIFA). He added that the first round of TIFA talks was held in March of this year, which is helping to enhance the bilateral trade and economic relationship. The president also noted that Taiwan formally was included in the US Visa Waiver Program on November 1, 2012, which provides greater convenience for the roughly 400,000 ROC nationals who visit the United States annually, thus enhancing people-to-people ties. This marks an important milestone in relations between the two countries, he remarked.
President Ma also mentioned that a number of high-ranking US government officials and influential members of the House of Representatives and the Senate have visited Taiwan over the past two years, including Administrator Rajiv Shah of the US Agency for International Development, Deputy Secretary of Energy Daniel B. Poneman, Under Secretary Francisco Sanchez for International Trade at the US Department of Commerce, and Assistant Secretary of State for Economic and Business Affairs Jose W. Fernandez. The level of official contact between the two sides has risen considerably, the president added.
With respect to the expansion of economic and trade relations, President Ma stated, three years ago Taiwan and mainland China signed the Cross-Straits Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement, and two years ago Taiwan and Japan signed the Taiwan-Japan Bilateral Investment Arrangement . Meanwhile, Taiwan is on the verge of signing economic cooperation agreements with Singapore and New Zealand, he noted. Taiwan hopes, he said, to contact many parties and sign agreements with them to create the necessary conditions to eventually join the Trans-Pacific Partnership and the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership.
Turning to the topic of energy policy, President Ma stated that in response to climate change and global warming, upon taking office in 2008 he made a commitment to the international community that Taiwan by 2020 would reduce its carbon emissions to the level of 2005. In addition, carbon emissions would be further cut in 2025 to the level of 2000, he said. The president acknowledged that this will not be an easy pledge to achieve. He pointed out that Taiwan is lacking in natural resources, and relies on imports for over 98% of its energy needs. Consequently, the president remarked, the government achieved passage of the Renewable Energy Development Act, which paves the way for the active promotion of renewable energy. As a result, the installed capacity for renewable energies here has grown by a factor of 23 since he took office, he stated.
President Ma further explained that while Taiwan has seen considerable growth in its installed capacity for renewable energies, the natural environment here has made it difficult to take full advantage of it. Consequently, coming up with the best energy mix to meet Taiwan's overall energy needs is an important task for the government. A decision must be made regarding whether to complete construction of the Fourth Nuclear Power Plant, he said, adding that his administration has asked the Legislative Yuan to put the matter to a referendum. The question will be decided by referendum in the coming several months, the president stated.
The president mentioned that in April of this year Taiwan and Idaho signed the Taiwan-Idaho Green Energy Industrial Cooperation Memorandum of Understanding on the joint development of geothermal power generation here. The president said he expects that Idaho's advanced technology and expertise in this field will help Taiwan find suitable sources of geothermal power for development. In addition, President Ma noted, US President Barack Obama recently appointed Professor Ernest Moniz, a supporter of nuclear energy, as Secretary of Energy. Consequently, he said, he hopes that former Secretary Bryson will provide his valuable opinions with respect to the development of various types of energy and the nuclear energy policy of the United States. At the same time, the president expressed hope that Mr. Bryson will continue to promote continued interaction and cooperation between the two sides.
Former Secretary Bryson's delegation included the Wilson Center's New Asia Initiative Associate A. Greer Meisels and Research Associate Angela Yeh (葉怡辰). The group was accompanied to the Presidential Office by Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Ting Joseph Shih (石定) to meet President Ma. Also attending the meeting was National Security Council Deputy Secretary-General Philip Y. M. Yang (楊永明).