President Ma Ying-jeou met on the afternoon of April 10 with a delegation of Canadian senators. In addition to extending a warm welcome to the group on their visit to Taiwan, the president also expressed hope that the two nations will continue to strengthen bilateral cooperation in a wide range of areas.
In remarks, the president stated that delegation leader Senator Yonah Martin was born in Korea and immigrated to Canada with her family when she was young. She spent over 20 years as an educator, and upon entering the Canadian Senate she became the nation's first Korean-Canadian parliamentarian. Senator Martin is very concerned about Korean War veterans, and the Korean War Veterans Day Act that she promoted was passed in 2013 by the Canadian parliament. The other senators in the delegation also have quite impressive accomplishments in the areas of national security, national defense, finance and economics, and human rights, the president said.
As for Taiwan-Canada relations, President Ma pointed out that following Taiwan's 2008 and 2012 presidential elections, Canada's minister of foreign affairs immediately issued statements of congratulations and applauded the success of Taiwan's democratic electoral process. Canada also sent delegations to attend both of his inauguration ceremonies, which demonstrated Canada's goodwill and friendship toward Taiwan. In addition, the ROC representative office in Canada in October of last year held a reception to mark the ROC's National Day, and just last month it also held "Taiwan Night," featuring performances and Taiwan-style cuisine. Several dozen federal senators and members of parliament, including the senators among the delegation, attended the event, showing the depth of Canada's friendship with the ROC, the president stated.
With respect to interaction in the private sector, President Ma stated that the two countries introduced a youth working holiday program in 2010 that has been extremely well-received among young people here, with the 1,000 slots available each year falling far short of demand. The president hopes the number of slots in the program can be increased to further promote youth exchanges. Meanwhile, in 2010 Canada began providing visa-free courtesies to ROC nationals, which has resulted in an increase in the number of Canada-bound tourists from Taiwan from 61,000 in 2009 to 70,000 last year. That measure also created the need to increase the number of weekly flights between the two countries from 13 to 17, and this number will rise to 21 this year, he said.
Regarding trade and economic dealings between the two sides, the president noted that bilateral trade last year was US$5.46 billion. Taiwan is Canada's 12th largest global trading partner, and fifth largest in Asia. Canada is the largest source of nickel for Taiwan, the third largest source of iron, and fifth largest for coal. The president also explained that in January of last year the ROC government opened the domestic market to imports of Canadian bone-in beef, which has led to continued growth in the market share of Canadian beef here. Canada also accounts for 60% of Taiwan's pork imports, he said.
The president explained to the visitors that since taking office in 2008, the government has actively promoted economic and trade liberalization. Therefore, Taiwan in 2010 signed the Cross-Straits Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement with mainland China; in 2011 the Taiwan-Japan Bilateral Investment Arrangement; and in 2013 the ANZTEC economic cooperation agreement with New Zealand and the ASTEP economic partnership agreement with Singapore. The president mentioned that the ROC and the United States have resumed negotiations under the Trade and Investment Framework Agreement (TIFA), and he hopes to strengthen economic and trade cooperation by joining the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) and the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP).
President Ma said that during last year's APEC Economic Leaders' Week in Beijing, Taiwan's representative, former Vice President Vincent C. Siew (蕭萬長), met with Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper, with the two sides maintaining a positive attitude toward strengthening economic and trade relations. Canadian Minister of International Trade Ed Fast has also expressed support in this regard. Taiwan and Canada have completed negotiations on a double taxation avoidance agreement, and the president hopes the two nations will sign that agreement soon, along with starting negotiations on a bilateral foreign investment protection agreement. This, he said, would strengthen bilateral economic, trade, and investment relations, and would solidify the foundation for the negotiation and signing of an economic cooperation agreement.
The president also commented that Taiwan has expressed a strong desire to become a TPP signatory, and he hopes that Canada will support Taiwan in this regard. In addition, Taiwan has many flight paths running through its airspace, with about 1.5 million discrete flights passing through the Taipei Flight Information Region each year. Based on air safety considerations, the government is intent on participating in the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), and hopes that Canada can provide assistance to that end, he said.
Lastly, President Ma commented that apart from Senator Joseph A. Day, the other senators in the delegation were making their first visit to the ROC. He expressed hope that this visit will enhance their understanding of government policies and local customs, and will be conducive to strengthening bilateral cooperation, thereby enabling bilateral relations to move forward.
Among those in the delegation were Senator Colin Kenny and Mrs. Kenny, Senator Nancy Ruth and her husband, Senator Donald Neil Plett and Mrs. Plett, and Senator Day and Mrs. Day.