President Ma Ying-jeou met on the morning of October 17 with a delegation from the US State of Wyoming, led by Wyoming's Governor Matt Mead and Mrs. Mead. In addition to welcoming the delegation to Taiwan and briefing them on progress in relations between Taiwan and the United States in recent years, the president also called for continued promotion of bilateral interaction and cooperation.
In remarks, President Ma stated that Taiwan and Wyoming have extremely friendly ties, having entered into a sister state (province) alliance in 1984, he said. In addition, the two sides maintain strong economic and trade dealings. Wyoming's exports to Taiwan exceeded US$40 million last year, and Taiwan is Wyoming's sixth largest export market and 12th largest global trading partner. The president noted that Taiwan has investments of over US$30 million in Wyoming. Wyoming, he remarked, has abundant experience in wind and biogas generation, and Taiwan would like to learn from its experience. President Ma mentioned that the Taiwan Power Company and the Industrial Technology Research Institute have both expressed a desire to cooperate with Wyoming on development of related technologies.
In discussing relations between Taiwan and the United States, the president stated that the two sides over the past five years have enjoyed close ties. Former US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton two years ago publicly declared that Taiwan is an important security and economic partner of the United States, he said. In addition, in November of last year Taiwan became the 37th participant in the US Visa Waiver Program, the only nation in the initiative that does not maintain formal diplomatic relations with the United States, he stated. At the same time, the president noted, the United States has actively assisted Taiwan in participating in the international community. For instance, he commented, in September of this year a representative from Taiwan was invited to attend the assembly of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) as a special guest, the first time since Taiwan lost its representation in the United Nations 42 years ago. The government and people of the ROC will always remember the assistance the United States has provided in this respect, he said.
As for trade and economic ties, President Ma further stated, the two countries in March of this year resumed negotiations under the Trade and Investment Framework Agreement after a five-year hiatus. The president mentioned that former Vice President Vincent C. Siew (蕭萬長) in November of this year will lead a delegation of business leaders to the United States to promote bilateral economic and trade ties. As for the US-led Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), President Ma stated that Taiwan is quite keen to join the TPP. Even though conditions are not yet ripe for its entry, he said, Taiwan hopes to work via regional economic bodies to further develop bilateral and multilateral trade with the United States and other nations in the Asia-Pacific region.
As for cross-strait relations, the president explained, over the past five years Taiwan has embraced a strategy of reconciliation and cooperation with mainland China. The two sides have held nine rounds of institutionalized negotiations and signed 19 agreements that have brought big progress in areas such as tourism, healthcare, economic cooperation, and law enforcement cooperation, said President Ma.
The president stressed that the ROC government has consistently sought, under the framework of the ROC Constitution, to maintain the status quo of "no unification, no independence, and no use of force" in the Taiwan Strait, and to promote the peaceful development of cross-strait ties under the "1992 Consensus," whereby each side acknowledges the existence of "one China" but maintains its own interpretation of what that means. The ROC Constitution, he noted, states that the ROC is a sovereign nation and that mainland China is still the territory of the ROC. Consequently, "it would be impossible to call Taiwan's relationship with mainland China an international relationship, but rather a type of special relationship." The president pointed to the example of cross-strait transportation links. Over 20 years ago, he said, the routes were designated as "not international routes, nor domestic routes, but a type of special routes," which is why these routes are called "cross-strait routes." Both sides have quickly enhanced relations on this foundation, he explained, adding that this has brought unprecedented wellbeing to the people of both sides.
President Ma stated that even though cross-strait relations are now more stable and peaceful than at any other time in the past 60 years, Taiwan still needs to have a strong national defense to ensure the safety of its people. It is with this in mind that Taiwan and the United States maintain security cooperation, which is an important part of the bilateral relationship, he said.
President Ma reiterated that the ROC is a peace-loving nation that always seeks to resolve disputes in a peaceful manner. One concrete example of this is a fisheries agreement signed between Taiwan and Japan in April of this year, he said, which resolved a 40-year fisheries dispute. In addition, the president noted, in August of this year peaceful means were used to resolve an incident with the Philippines in which personnel on a Philippine government vessel shot at a Taiwanese fishing boat in overlapping exclusive economic waters, damaging the boat and killing one fisherman. President Ma stressed that Taiwan handles its international relations in a peaceful manner. The international community has praised these efforts, and this is helping Taiwan to develop relations with other countries, he said.
The president also mentioned that the delegation from Wyoming is in Taiwan to participate in the opening of the US Pavilion at the 2013 Taipei International Travel Fair. President Ma said that Wyoming is famous for its scenery, and that Yellowstone National Park attracts countless visitors from throughout the world. He expressed hope that this visit will enhance the delegation's understanding of Taiwan and will help to promote ties between Taiwan and the United States.
The delegation was accompanied to the Presidential Office by American Institute in Taiwan Taipei Office Director Christopher J. Marut to meet President Ma. Also attending the meeting were National Security Council Deputy Secretary-General Jacob Chang (張大同) and Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Ting Joseph Shih (石定).