After arriving in Paraguay late in the evening on August 13 local time, President Ma Ying-jeou formally commenced his first-day itinerary in that nation on his journey codenamed Project Congratulations and Friendship on August 14. In the morning, President Ma met with President Luis Federico Franco Gomez at the Presidential Palace, and later with President-elect Horacio Manuel Cartes at his residence.
President Franco has long taken a special interest in international healthcare issues, and during his meeting with President Ma expressed hope that after leaving office he will be able to forge a close relationship with the medical community in the ROC. President Ma responded that Kaohsiung Chang Gung Memorial Hospital's Superintendent Chao-Long Chen (陳肇隆) is a world famous liver transplant surgeon who has carried out over 1,000 living donor transplants with a very high survival rate. President Franco expressed great interest, and said he strongly hopes to introduce related technology to his nation to enhance the wellbeing of the Paraguayan public.
During the meeting between President Ma and President-elect Cartes, the president-elect stressed that he hopes bilateral relations can move forward on a basis of equality and reciprocity. In particular, he pointed out, the ROC has carried out a number of agricultural, medical, and education cooperation projects, so he hopes that there are areas in which Paraguay can provide assistance to the ROC. President Ma said he strongly supports this position and suggested that the two sides immediately establish a mutual assistance committee that would work to jointly promote assistance and cooperation projects that are beneficial to both sides.
At the noon hour, President Ma returned to his hotel and hosted a luncheon for overseas compatriots residing in Paraguay and members of the ROC embassy and their families. In remarks, the president noted that it was quite chilly outside when he arrived in Asuncion the night before, so he was extremely touched that so many overseas compatriots went to the international airport to welcome him.
President Ma explained to the overseas compatriots attending the luncheon that he was invited to attend the inauguration ceremonies for President-elect Cartes. In fact, outgoing President Franco and President-elect Cartes are both extremely friendly towards the ROC. He explained that he met with both of the gentlemen in the morning to exchange opinions on issues of mutual interest, and the talks were extremely successful.
In mentioning the ROC's foreign affairs policy planning, President Ma stated that prior to taking office in 2008, he gave considerable thought to the question of how to increase the ROC's gravitas in the international community. With this in mind, after being sworn in he adopted a "viable diplomacy" policy and began working to improve the relationship between the two sides of the Taiwan Strait. These initiatives have been mutually complementary and yielded substantive results over the past five years, he said. The president pointed out that the ROC's relationships with its 23 diplomatic partners continue to be stable, and the nation has seen considerable progress in its efforts to participate in international organizations and activities. For instance, the ROC is a formal observer in the World Health Assembly, where it goes by the name "Chinese Taipei." It has also become a party to the Agreement on Government Procurement, and former Vice President Lien Chan (連戰) has served as the president's representative at the Economic Leaders' Meetings of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum. The ROC is also actively seeking to join the International Civil Aviation Organization, and since President Ma took office the number of jurisdictions that provide ROC nationals with visa-free courtesies or landing visas has risen from 54 to 133. This saves time for travelers, and enables the people of the ROC to enjoy greater dignity, he said.
President Ma further explained that the "viable diplomacy" policy is a foreign affairs policy that emphasizes dignity, autonomy, flexibility, and pragmatism. As a result, the government has continued to solidify alliances with its diplomatic partners while strengthening ties with nations with which it does not maintain formal diplomatic relations, he said. The president mentioned that the ROC's relationships with the United States, Japan, and mainland China have seen major improvements over the past five years. In fact, he noted, relations between Taiwan and the United States are the best they have been since diplomatic ties were severed 34 years ago. The two sides have achieved clear progress in the areas of security cooperation and economic relations, he said. The fact that the ROC has become the 37th nation in the US Visa Waiver Program (and the only nation in the Program that doesn't maintain diplomatic ties with the United States), and the high level of courtesy he was shown during a transit stop in New York City this time, are clear benefits of the "viable diplomacy" policy.
With respect to relations between Taiwan and Japan, the president pointed out, in recent years the ROC has established a representative office in Sapporo, and the two nations have signed a working holiday agreement, an open skies agreement, a fisheries agreement, and the Taiwan-Japan Bilateral Investment Arrangement. These achievements show that bilateral relations are the most stable they have been in 40 years, he said. And as for the cross-strait relationship, President Ma commented, the two sides have already signed 19 agreements covering agriculture, economic and trade ties, the combating of crime, and other areas that are important in the daily lives of the public. The agreements reached have played a significant role in promoting peace and prosperity for both sides, he remarked.
The president firmly stated that during his eight years as president he hopes to create a peaceful, stable, and prosperous environment for Taiwan, and added that "the ROC is our nation and Taiwan is our home. I want this nation and this home to truly be respected by others, and to be an inspiration."
Lastly, the president expressed hope that overseas compatriots will continue to support the government and together work to enable the ROC to win the respect of others and for other nations to be touched by the ROC.
During the luncheon, Belen Lopez (who previously received a Taiwan Scholarship and graduated from school in Taiwan), Victor Delgado (a former Paraguayan military attaché stationed in Taiwan), and Tang Yu-xin (湯宇歆, an ROC compatriot in Paraguay who won the 2013 Golden Melody Award for Best Hakka Singer), sang several songs, including A Grateful Heart (感恩的心) and No Win Without a Fight (愛拼才會贏), both of which are extremely popular in Taiwan. The performance wowed the crowd, who responded warmly to the songs.
Among those attending the luncheon were commissioners of the ROC's Overseas Community Affairs Council Hong Zhen-sheng (洪振盛) and Gu Dan-chen (顧丹塵), Chairman Li Fu-yuan (李復淵) of the Chinese community association in Asuncion, Chairman Chen Chuan-geng (陳傳庚) of the Chinese community association in Ciudad del Este, and a number of overseas compatriot leaders from countries throughout Central and South America.
Upon the conclusion of the luncheon, the president then visited the Universidad Nacional de Asuncion, where he received an honorary doctorate degree from the university's President Pedro Gerardo Gonzalez. In remarks, the president said he was deeply honored to receive the degree, adding that the meaning of this degree to him does not pale in comparison to the doctorate in law that he received from Harvard University 32 years ago.
President Ma noted that the Universidad Nacional de Asuncion is Paraguay's oldest university, and its most respected one. Many notable leaders in the political and economic communities were educated at the university, he said. In addition, the university this year holds the rotating chair of the Asociacion de Universidades del Grupo Montevideo, a cooperative organization of higher educational institutions in South America. Furthermore, the president noted, the university in recent years has worked with the ROC's Agricultural Technical Mission in Paraguay on a number of cooperation projects, including a hog raising project as well as vegetable production and feed manufacturing projects. Also, the university assists Paraguay in carrying out technology transfers and vocational training. The university, he said, has signed academic cooperation projects with many universities in Taiwan.
President Ma further stated that as Taiwan has limited natural resources, it has been forced to emphasize education and has therefore continuously upgraded the quality of education it offers, thereby cultivating talent that has enabled Taiwan to emerge from poverty and create prosperity. The president mentioned that at present Taiwan is home to 162 colleges and universities, 50 of which offer a total of 198 English-language degree programs. President Ma cited statistics showing that last year 64,000 foreign students came to study in Taiwan, which is over double the number prior to his taking office. He said that Taiwan hopes in the future to become a hub for education in the Asia-Pacific region. Each year, he commented, Taiwan provides 224 scholarships to outstanding students from Paraguay, adding that the Paraguayan students have distinguished themselves in their academic pursuits in Taiwan.
The president also explained the current state of Taiwan's development to those attending the ceremony. He stressed that the ROC and Paraguay are both peace-loving nations, and five years ago when he took office he immediately set about promoting "peace" and the principle of "putting Taiwan first for the benefit of the people." Based on this, Taiwan has moved to establish a new relationship with mainland China. As a result, the Taiwan Strait, which was once a flash point in Asia, has been transformed into an avenue of peace today. In addition, he pointed out, last year he unveiled his East China Sea Peace Initiative to reduce tensions in the East China Sea stemming from sovereignty disputes, and to resolve issues in a peaceful manner. President Ma said that on April 10 of this year Taiwan and Japan finally signed a fisheries agreement, thus resolving a 40-year dispute over fishing operations.
The president mentioned that after the ROC lost its seat in the United Nations in 1971, it was long unable to participate in UN activities. In recent years, however, thanks to the assistance of the ROC's allies, including Paraguay, Taiwan has gradually gained more breathing room in the international community. In addition, he said, 133 jurisdictions now provide ROC nationals with visa-free courtesies or landing visas. He specifically pointed out that Paraguay began offering landing visas to ROC nationals as of November 20 of last year. President Ma expressed confidence that this will surely lead to a greater number of tourists from Taiwan traveling to Paraguay.
Looking to the future, the president said, the ROC and Paraguay can forge joint cooperation in the areas of medicine and health care. In particular, he mentioned, Taiwan is currently home to 14 of the world's 200 largest hospitals, behind only the United States and Germany. Each year, over 110,000 foreigners come to Taiwan for medical services, he noted, adding that Kaohsiung Chang Gung Memorial Hospital Superintendent Chen Chao-long is a leader in the field of living donor liver transplants, and the hospital has begun to share its experience in this field with allied nations in Latin America. President Ma said the ROC would be extremely pleased to arrange for contact between the hospital and the Paraguayan government or the Universidad Nacional de Asuncion in this regard, thereby further promoting bilateral cooperation.
Among those attending the degree conferral ceremony were Paraguayan Minister of Education and Culture Horacio Galeano Perrone, Universidad Nacional de Asuncion President Gonzalez, ROC National Security Council Secretary-General Jason C. Yuan (袁健生), Minister of Foreign Affairs David Y. L. Lin (林永樂), Minister of Health and Welfare Wen-Ta Chiu (邱文達), and ROC Ambassador to Paraguay Liu Der-li (劉德立).