President Ma Ying-jeou met on the afternoon of March 18 with a delegation from the Harvard Asia Law Society, during which he updated the visitors on domestic developments in recent years in the areas of human rights, the rule of law, and the economy. He also reiterated that the ROC has sought to actively serve in the roles of regional peacemaker and provider of humanitarian aid in the international arena.
In remarks, President Ma stated that during his education in the law at Harvard Law School, he came to a deep understanding of the core values of the United States, namely freedom, democracy, human rights, and the rule of law. After being inaugurated as ROC president in 2008, he immediately sought to enhance the development of democracy and human rights here. First, in May 2009, he signed the instruments of ratification of the United Nations' International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. The Legislative Yuan also passed enforcement laws for these two covenants, incorporating them into domestic law. In addition, the ROC in January 2012 and November 2014 passed the Enforcement Act for the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women and the Enforcement Act for the Convention on the Rights of the Child, respectively. This, the president said, has expanded the scope of human rights protections in the ROC.
In mentioning the ROC's economic development, the president said Taiwan's overall economic performance has gradually recovered in the wake of the 2008 global financial crisis. Our economic growth reached a three-year high of 3.74% last year, the first time in 16 years that Taiwan's growth rate was the highest of Asia's four little tigers, which highlights the strength of Taiwan's economy, he said.
The president then turned to the topic of ROC-US relations. He stated that upon taking office he immediately sought to strengthen mutual trust between the two countries at the highest levels. At the same time, his administration worked to bolster bilateral relations, which has yielded many achievements. For instance, the US government in November 2012 formally included Taiwan in its Visa Waiver Program, with the ROC becoming the only nation in the program that doesn't have formal diplomatic relations with the United States. This is testament to the solid and stable substantive relationship between the two countries, the president said.
The president also discussed cross-strait relations, saying that over the past six years the ROC government has sought to maintain the development of cross-strait relations of various types based on the foundation of the "1992 Consensus," whereby each side acknowledges the existence of "one China" but maintains its own interpretation of what that means. The situation in the Taiwan Strait has thus seen changes in recent years. President Ma stressed that the government's efforts to strengthen cross-strait relations has turned the relationship from a "vicious cycle" into a "virtuous cycle." The progress in peace and stability in cross-strait relations has also enabled the United States to interact peacefully with both sides of the Taiwan Strait at the same time. The president is also confident that in the future the two sides will continue to work together to forge peace and security in the Taiwan Strait on the basis on equality and reciprocity.
The president then stated that in the international arena, the ROC government in recent years has actively sought to play the roles of regional peacemaker and provider of humanitarian aid. He pointed out that he unveiled his East China Sea Peace Initiative in August of 2012, and in April of 2013 the ROC and Japan signed a fisheries agreement in accordance with the spirit of that initiative. That agreement peacefully resolved a fishing dispute that had lasted for 40 years. The ROC also sought to extend the concepts embodied in that initiative to the South China Sea by holding fishing negotiations with the Philippines. As a result, the two sides reached a consensus on the enforcement of law at sea in overlapping exclusive economic zones, agreeing to refrain from using force in law enforcement actions, to notify each other prior to such actions, and promptly release detained fishing vessels and crews in case of arrest, thus maintaining peace in the region.
As for the role of provider of humanitarian aid, the president said that in recent years the ROC has immediately dispatched military aircraft and vessels to deliver relief supplies to areas around the world devastated by major disasters. This has made Taiwan's sense of compassion readily apparent to the world community, he said. Last year the ROC responded to the outbreak of the Ebola virus in Africa by donating 100,000 sets of protective gear to West Africa to aid in outbreak prevention. The ROC in December also donated US$1 million to the CDC Foundation in the United States as part of the international Ebola response fund. In addition, the president said the ROC government has assisted in the refugee crisis in the Middle East by providing over 700 pre-fab structures and rice to refugees there, helping them get through the winter months. This highlights Taiwan's spirit of empathizing with those in need, he said.
During the meeting, the president engaged in a lively dialogue with the delegates on topics including democracy in Asia, the challenges facing Taiwan's economic development, and cross-strait relations.
The delegation, which included over 30 individuals, was led by William Passo. Accompanying the group to meet with President Ma was Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Andrew Jen-Chuan Kao (高振群).