While meeting on the morning of August 6 with participants who were in Taiwan for the East China Sea Peace Forum, President Ma Ying-jeou stressed Taiwan's commitment to peaceful dispute resolution, and cited as examples its handling of relations with mainland China, Japan, and the Philippines. The president further stated that while the East China Sea Peace Initiative is not a panacea, it can help to reduce disputes, while also creating "win-win" or "all-win" situations.
In remarks, President Ma first stated that its relations with the mainland and Japan, and its fishing disputes with the Philippines, all touch on the issue of sovereignty. In fact, he said, the cross-strait relationship is not an international relationship, so that situation is different from Taiwan's relations with Japan and the Philippines, but this distinction has no bearing on how to go about the settlement of disputes.
President Ma commented that the fundamental objective of dispute resolution is to achieve peace and prosperity. He pointed out that he actively sought to improve cross-strait ties upon taking office six years ago, and as a result there is now greater peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait than at any other time in the past 65 years. In fact, he said, reconciliation has increased interaction between the two sides, and helped to promote greater prosperity, which in turn has won increased public support for reconciliation and decreased the possibility of disagreements. A positive feedback loop has thus been established, he remarked. President Ma added that when disputes, confrontation, and conflict were reduced, the level of mutual trust between the two sides began to increase. This type of mutual trust has also been extended into international affairs, he pointed out, noting that this has helped to expand the ROC's international relationships and breathing room.
The president cited the examples of the fisheries agreement signed between Taiwan and Japan, as well as Taiwan's talks with the Philippines on an agreement for cooperation in the enforcement of laws in fishing operations, following which the number of disputes with these nations has dropped dramatically. For instance, in the year prior to the signing of the fisheries agreement with Japan, a total of 17 disputes arose between the ROC and Japan, and Coast Guard ships of the two countries had 15 confrontations. However, since the signing of the agreement, there has been just one dispute, he said, adding that Coast Guard vessels of the two countries have not had any confrontations. "These numbers are a reflection of the peace achieved," the president commented.
As for relations between Taiwan and the Philippines, President Ma stated, the two countries have held multiple rounds of fishing negotiations, which ultimately yielded a consensus to avoid the use of force when enforcing the law at sea, to notify each other before any law enforcement action is taken, and to promptly release any persons detained or arrested. The past 10 years have seen 25 instances of the use of force in the enforcement of laws in the overlapping exclusive economic waters of Taiwan and the Philippines, but this number has now also dropped to just one, he said, emphasizing that talks between the two sides have effectively resolved fishing disputes that have spanned 30 years.
Addressing the objective of prosperity, President Ma remarked that since the signing of the fisheries agreement between Taiwan and Japan, catches by Taiwan fishermen operating in waters around the Diaoyutai Islets have risen sharply. In addition, Taiwan and Japan have also established a standing committee to engage in negotiations on issues frequently encountered, he stated. This protects the interests of the fishermen of both countries, said the president, remarking that substantive results have also been seen on this front.
President Ma commented: "Much of what we've done is just temporary measures, since issues haven't been permanently solved." He acknowledged that it is difficult to resolve sovereignty issues quickly. As a result, he said, first resolving the issue of resources helps to minimize the overall problem, following which the various parties involved can pursue measures to mitigate or resolve sovereignty disputes.
The president noted there are many differences between the two sides of the Taiwan Strait on sovereignty issues. As a result, the government has taken the stance of "mutual non-recognition of sovereignty and mutual non-denial of authority to govern," he said. This policy has shelved disputes over sovereignty that cannot be resolved at present, thus enabling the two sides to work together for greater prosperity, he stated.
President Ma stressed that the ROC's shelving of sovereignty disputes does not mean that it has shelved its claims of sovereignty. For example, he said, Article 4 of the fisheries agreement between Taiwan and Japan includes a "without prejudice clause," meaning that the two sides' claims under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea will not be impacted.
Lastly, President Ma remarked that while the East China Sea Peace Initiative is not a panacea, it can at least temper disputes and help to buy more time in the handling of even more complex issues. This, he stated, is creating a "win-win" or "all-win" situation for the parties involved.
The delegation of visitors included Carnegie Endowment for International Peace Vice President for Studies Douglas Paal, former Secretary-General of the Committee of the Regions of the European Union Gerhard Stahl, Chairman of the Advisory Board of the Indonesian Council on World Affairs Makarim Wibisono, former Philippine Ambassador to France and Permanent Delegate of the Philippines to UNESCO Jose A. Zaide, Nonresident Senior Fellow at the Center for East Asia Policy Studies of the Brookings Institution Evans J.R. Revere, Japan's Waseda Institute of International Strategy Director Sadaharu Kataoka, Senior Advisor and Senior Director of the Asia-Pacific Security Program at the Center for a New American Security Patrick M. Cronin, Vice Director of the Institute for Foreign Policy and Strategic Studies under the Diplomatic Academy of Vietnam Tran Viet Thai, Head and Fellow of Malaysia's Centre for Maritime Security and Diplomacy Centre Martin Sebastian, and Singapore's Institute of Southeast Asian Studies Senior Fellow Malcolm Cook.