On the evening of September 15, President Ma Ying-jeou attended a reception to commemorate the 193rd anniversary of Central America's independence. The president extended his congratulations to the ROC's four Central American diplomatic allies—Nicaragua, El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras—and also expressed hope that the alliances with these nations will continue to grow stronger and cooperation will become even broader.
President Ma commented that he has visited ROC allies in Central America five times since he took office in 2008. He specifically noted that in June 2009 he visited El Salvador and Guatemala, while in July of the same year he visited Nicaragua. He visited Honduras in 2010, and this year he also made trips to Honduras and El Salvador to attend the inaugurations of the new presidents in those countries. He offered the good wishes of the government and people of the ROC when he led a delegation in January to attend the inauguration of Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernandez, followed by another trip in July to congratulate El Salvador's President Salvador Sanchez Ceren on his inauguration, he said. President Ma stated that he received a warm reception from the governments and people of those nations during the visits and he will never forget it.
The president remarked that the ROC has long shared its successful development experience with diplomatic partners in Central America, and that cooperation in the areas of agriculture and fishing, education, health care and medicine, humanitarian assistance, social welfare, and infrastructure has yielded considerable results. In addition, he stated, this is a concrete demonstration of the success of the ROC's policy of "viable diplomacy."
President Ma noted that as an East Asian nation with a rapidly growing economy, the ROC has an obligation to share its successful experience with friends and allies. In recent years, he said, the government has embraced the principles of "seeking proper goals, acting lawfully, and exercising effective administration" in carrying out its foreign aid agenda, with the hope of further strengthening ties with its diplomatic partners.
The president remarked that while the ROC has diplomatic relations with only 22 nations, the number of countries and areas that provide ROC nationals with visa-free entry or landing visa courtesies has increased to 140, compared with 54 prior to his taking office. This shows that the ROC has friends all over the world, he stated.
President Ma then mentioned that the ROC has consistently sought to play the role of peacemaker. For instance, the thaw in relations between the two sides of the Taiwan Strait has created the greatest level of peace and prosperity between Taiwan and mainland China in the past 65 years. In addition, in April of last year Taiwan and Japan signed a fisheries agreement, which effectively resolved a 40-year fishing dispute, he said. The president added that last year the government used peaceful means and a resolute attitude in resolving the Guang Da Xing No. 28 fishing vessel dispute between Taiwan and the Philippines, and the two sides have now agreed on guidelines for future law enforcement actions.
President Ma further acknowledged that El Salvador, Honduras, and Nicaragua also are involved in a dispute over sovereignty and rights to the use of various waters in the Golfo de Fonseca. The leaders of these three nations, he said, previously issued a joint declaration signaling a consensus to pursue sustainable development of the Golfo de Fonseca and maintain peace there. The president remarked that the steps taken by those nations are in line with the concepts behind his East China Sea Peace Initiative, which shows that resolving disputes through peaceful means, shelving sovereignty disputes, and jointly exploring and developing resources is now a mainstream stance in the international community. He said he hopes that the aforementioned three nations will continue to seek peace, which will create a peace dividend.
The president expressed his deepest gratitude to the ROC's four allies in Central America for speaking on behalf of the ROC in international venues and supporting meaningful participation for the ROC in international organizations and activities. President Ma closed his remarks by stating his desire to see bilateral alliances with these nations become even stronger.
Among those at the event were Nicaraguan Ambassador to the ROC William Manuel Tapia Aleman, El Salvadoran Ambassador to the ROC Marta Chang de Tsien, Guatemalan Ambassador to the ROC Arturo Romeo Duarte Ortiz, and Honduran Chargé d'Affaires a.i. to the ROC Misael Vallecillo Gonzalez, Nauruan Ambassador to the ROC Ludwig Dowong Keke (the head of the diplomatic corps in the ROC), and other representatives from the diplomatic community here.