President Ma Ying-jeou met on the morning of January 7 with a delegation of British parliamentarians. In addition to extending a cordial welcome to the visitors, the president also called for further depth in the bilateral relationship.
In remarks, President Ma noted that several members of this delegation had visited the ROC before and were quite familiar with Taiwan. In particular, he stated, this was the fourth visit to Taiwan by Lord Steel of Aikwood, who had last visited in May 2012 as the head of a delegation attending the inauguration ceremonies of the president to a second term. President Ma said he was deeply pleased to meet with Lord Steel again.
The president remarked that Lord Steel, as well as delegation members Baroness Howells of St Davids and Lord Rennard, were all members of the British-Taiwanese All-Party Parliamentary Group, the most important Taiwan friendship group in the British parliament. President Ma noted that the group's 122 parliamentarians came from different parties in the House of Lords and House of Commons, regularly spoke on behalf of Taiwan in the British parliament, and had significantly boosted substantive relations between Taiwan and the United Kingdom.
As for Taiwan-UK relations, President Ma remarked, almost each year a minister of state from the UK has visited Taiwan, dating back to 1992 when former Department of Trade and Industry Minister of State John Redwood came here. The president added that many British parliamentary delegations have visited Taiwan since he took office in 2008 and to date he has met with 64 parliamentarians from the two houses, including Lord Speaker of the House of Lords Baroness D'Souza in October of last year. Also in 2014 he met with then Lord Mayor of London Fiona Woolf, as well as the UK Foreign Secretary's Special Representative for Climate Change Sir David King. President Ma commented that these visits indicate the high level of importance both sides placed on bilateral ties.
Commenting on non-government ties, the president noted that the United Kingdom was the first European nation to provide visa-free courtesies to ROC nationals, after which over 20 nations in the European Union (EU) and member state territories took similar steps. He explained that prior to his taking office, just 54 nations and areas offered visa-free status or landing visas to ROC nationals, but the number today has increased to 140. This increase of 86 has been hard earned, he said. Meanwhile, the president stated, the United Kingdom was the first nation in the EU to allow Taiwan youth to visit on a working holiday visa. Under this initiative, each year up to 1,000 young people from Taiwan can go to the UK under that nation's Youth Mobility Scheme, he said, adding that this has become extremely popular among youth here. Also, about 16,000 students from Taiwan are currently studying in the United Kingdom, which constitutes impressive growth from only 36 Taiwanese students going to school there 30 years ago, he remarked.
President Ma mentioned that relations between Taiwan and the United Kingdom have developed rapidly in recent years. The two nations regularly hold bilateral conferences on renewable energies and rail transport, and the president said he hopes the two sides can establish cooperative relations in multiple fields in both the private and public sectors, specifically mentioning the fields of banking, cultural and creative industries, smart cities, and the training of Chinese language instructors.
Turning to bilateral economic and trade relations, the president explained that in 2013 the United Kingdom was Taiwan's third largest trading partner in Europe, with bilateral trade valued at about £3.9 billion. The United Kingdom is also an important destination for investment from Taiwan, he said, noting that total investments by Taiwan in the United Kingdom since 1952 have constituted about one-fifth of Taiwan's total investments in Europe. Taiwan's Cathay Life Insurance and Fubon Life Insurance last year set up offices in London and have invested more than £450 million, the largest investments by Taiwan in the United Kingdom in recent years, he said.
President Ma further remarked that his administration has actively promoted economic liberalization since he took office in 2008. He pointed out that following the signing of the Cross-Straits Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement between Taiwan and mainland China in 2009, Taiwan signed the ANZTEC economic cooperation agreement with New Zealand in July 2013 and the ASTEP economic partnership agreement with Singapore in November of the same year. The president stated that the government is actively seeking to join the Trans-Pacific Partnership and the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership, and would also like to begin negotiating a bilateral investment agreement and an economic cooperation agreement with the EU as soon as possible. Consequently, President Ma encouraged the parliamentarians to continue exercising their influence and promoting the signing of important agreements, which would further enhance bilateral cooperation.
Also in attendance at the meeting was Lord Davies of Stamford.