President Ma Ying-jeou met on the afternoon of May 20 with a delegation from the Atlantic Council, a US-based think tank. In addition to extending a cordial welcome to the delegation, the president also explained the efforts and achievements of the ROC government in promoting relations with the United States and mainland China.
In remarks, the president commented that the Atlantic Council is an important and renowned American think tank. Chuck Hagel, who recently stepped down as U.S. secretary of defense, previously served as the organization's chairman. Current Chairman Jon M. Huntsman, Jr. had spent three years in Taiwan as a missionary and working, and speaks fluent Mandarin and Hokkien dialect. Chairman Huntsman is extremely familiar with the culture and customs of Taiwan, and in the past has served as US ambassador to Singapore and mainland China. Mr. Huntsman also has a thorough understanding of American domestic and international affairs, the president said. The Atlantic Council in recent years has adjusted the focus of its research to security in the Asia-Pacific, and it maintains more frequent interaction with the ROC. The president remarked that the seminars held by the think tank on topics related to Taiwan and its policy recommendations are closely followed by many sectors in the United States and the ROC government.
Commenting on Taiwan-US relations, the president said that bilateral ties are the best they have ever been since the Taiwan Relations Act was implemented 36 years ago. Over the past year, reciprocal visits by high-ranking officials have been frequent, including U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Gina McCarthy, Deputy Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Asia Holly Vineyard, and Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for the Bureau of Economic and Business Affairs at the Department of State Kurt Tong. In addition, the ROC's Minister of Economic Affairs John C. C. Deng (鄧振中) visited the United States in February this year, making him the ROC's first economics minister to visit America since 2004. These mutual visits demonstrate the increasingly close bilateral relationship, the president said.
The president told the visitors that former US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and current Secretary of State John Kerry have both emphasized publicly that Taiwan is an important economic and security partner of the United States. Secretary Kerry recently further stated that the United States will continue to expand its solid and multi-sided partnership with Taiwan. U.S. Secretary of Defense Ashton Carter also recently publicly praised the rise and prosperity of Japan, Taiwan, Korea, and Southeast Asia. That Secretary Carter listed Taiwan together with Japan and Korea is testament to the importance that the United States places on Taiwan, the president stated.
The president, in reference to security cooperation between Taiwan and the United States, stated that United States arms sales to the ROC over the past seven years have exceeded US$18.3 billion, and this cooperation is proceeding smoothly. In addition, in December last year the United States agreed to sell the ROC four Perry-class frigates, a demonstration of the security commitment of the United States to Taiwan, said the president.
As for economic and trade relations, President Ma stated that in 2013 Taiwan and the United States resumed negotiations under the Trade and Investment Framework Agreement (TIFA) and that the two sides are now focusing on the signing of a bilateral investment agreement. Twelve working conferences have already been held, and the president hopes that these will yield a concrete result. In addition, Taiwan is actively striving to join the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) and the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) so that it will not be marginalized in the course of regional economic integration. The president also expressed his desire to see the Trade Promotion Authority legislation promoted by the US administration reviewed and passed by Congress as soon as possible, which he said would facilitate Taiwan's participation in the second round of TPP negotiations.
The president stated that since he took office in 2008 the ROC government has consistently sought, under the framework of the ROC Constitution, to maintain the status quo of "no unification, no independence, and no use of force" in the Taiwan Strait, and to promote the peaceful development of cross-strait ties under the 1992 Consensus, whereby each side acknowledges the existence of "one China" but maintains its own interpretation of what that means. This, he said, has enabled the current level of cross-strait peace and stability, which is unprecedented in the past 66 years. This past February, US Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs Daniel Russel also recognized the progress in cross-strait relations. He believes that the development of Taiwan-US relations over the past several years has been extremely constructive, and that this is closely related to progress in cross-strait relations.
President Ma then explained that with the ROC slated to elect a new president in 2016, how cross-strait relations will be maintained is becoming a main topic for discussion. Some individuals are skeptical about the existence of the 1992 Consensus, but the president said that "not only does the 1992 Consensus exist, but it has been in existence for 23 years." Experience has proven that when we abide by the 1992 Consensus, cross-strait relations flourish; if we diverge from it, cross-strait relations will deteriorate; and if we oppose it, there will be turmoil in the Taiwan Strait. Consequently, the president said that whichever party holds power in the future, "this basic political consensus between the two sides should be maintained."
Lastly, the president stressed that the ROC and the United States have a common interest in peace and stability in the Asia-Pacific. In the future, the ROC will continue to have close cooperation with the United States on key issues, with the hope of promoting regional peace and prosperity.
The delegation included Daniel Chiu, Deputy Director of the Atlantic Council's Brent Scowcroft Center on International Security; HuiHui Ooi, Associate Director of the Brent Scowcroft Center on International Security; Olin L. Wethington, Nonresident Fellow at Brent Scowcroft Center; Wallace Gregson, Jr., Senior Director for China and the Pacific at the Center for the National Interest; Sharon E. Burke, Senior Advisor to the New America Foundation; and Randall Schriver, President and Chief Executive Officer of the Project 2049 Institute.