President Ma Ying-jeou met on the morning of April 13 with a delegation led by US State of Kentucky Governor Steven Beshear and Mrs. Beshear. In addition to updating the group on progress in ROC-US relations, the president also expressed hope that the two sides will continue to strengthen cooperation for mutual benefit.
In remarks, the president first welcomed Governor Beshear, who last led a delegation to Taiwan three years ago. The president stated that during that period, both Taiwan and the United States had experienced an economic recession. Governor Beshear, however, by promoting educational reforms along with vocational training and health care initiatives to boost the performance of his state's government, has promoted economic growth and successfully led Kentucky out of the recession. Kentucky posted export growth of 10% in 2013, which was far higher than the average export growth of 3% for the United States as a whole, and ranked Kentucky second among all states. Its exports that year hit US$25.3 billion, which was the highest in the state's history.
President Ma remarked that, since taking office in 2007, Governor Beshear has actively sought to deepen ROC-US relations and supported greater participation for Taiwan in a wide range of international activities.
The president also thanked Governor Beshear for issuing a proclamation on the ROC's National Day last year declaring that October 10 was "ROC Day" in Kentucky, a move that symbolized his resolute support for the ROC. In addition, the Kentucky Legislature has repeatedly passed resolutions supporting Taiwan's participation in the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), the World Health Organization (WHO), and other international organizations. The president asked Governor Beshear to extend his deepest appreciation to the state's pro-Taiwan legislators once he returns to Kentucky, and also welcomed them to visit the ROC.
The president pointed out that the ROC and Kentucky have a strong economic and trade relationship, with bilateral trade last year reaching US$660 million.
President Ma also expressed his gratitude to Governor Beshear for his contributions in boosting relations between the ROC and Kentucky, and that he hopes Kentucky will set up an economic and trade office in Taiwan to further promote bilateral relations.
As for ROC-US relations, the president said that in the seven years since he took office, his administration has taken a "low key, no surprises" approach in working to restore mutual trust between Taiwan and the United States at the highest levels of government. This has enabled substantive bilateral relations to continue to move forward, he said. Former US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and current Secretary of State John Kerry have both publicly emphasized the importance of cooperation between Taiwan and the United States in the areas of security and economics.
The president noted that the 36th anniversary of the enactment of the Taiwan Relations Act (TRA) had been celebrated three days before. He reprised his address at the AmCham 2015 Hsieh Nien Fan celebration, saying that the TRA has provided a stable and effective foundation for US-Taiwan relations. By establishing diplomatic relations with mainland China and breaking off diplomatic relations with Taiwan, the United States had derecognized Taiwan. The TRA formulated by the US Congress, however, was actually a sort of legislative re-recognition of Taiwan, the president stated.
In other words, in terms of international law, the TRA entirely offset the effect of Taiwan's derecognition, he said. Over the past six years, the United States has sold the ROC over US$18.3 billion worth of arms, the highest amount in the past two decades. This also shows that the US government is upholding the provisions of the TRA. In addition, the US government in December of last year agreed to sell the ROC four Perry-class frigates, which President Ma said demonstrated that the United States is firmly committed to Taiwan's security.
As for economic and trade relations, the president stated that in the past, mainland China and Japan surpassed the United States in trade with the ROC, making the United States Taiwan's third largest trading partner. The United States last year, however, passed Japan to become Taiwan's second largest trading partner. Meanwhile, the ROC last year vaulted over India and Saudi Arabia to become the 10th largest trading partner of the United States, with bilateral trade growing 7.84% from the previous year to reach US$62.2 billion. President Ma went on to say that the United States has listed Taiwan as an important source of investment under the SelectUSA investment initiative. Business leaders from Taiwan in late March attended the 2015 SelectUSA Investment Summit in the United States, and the number of domestic companies taking part in the summit made Taiwan the second most active participant in the world. The president also hopes the two sides in the future will sign a bilateral investment agreement to further strengthen cooperative relations.
Lastly, President Ma stated that Governor Beshear intends not only to visit government agencies in Taiwan on this trip, but also to witness the signing of a memorandum of understanding (MOU) between the Taiwan External Trade Development Council and the Kentucky Cabinet for Economic Development on economic and trade cooperation. The president is confident that the signing of this MOU will effectively boost bilateral interaction and cooperation in these areas.