President Ma Ying-jeou departed from Taiwan on the morning of July 11 to visit three diplomatic allies—the Dominican Republic, Haiti, and Nicaragua. Prior to boarding his chartered aircraft, the president delivered remarks, saying that this trip marks his 11th visit overseas since taking office in 2008, and is also his second visit to Haiti and Nicaragua, as well as his third trip to the Dominican Republic. He and his delegation on this eight-day trip, the president stated, will transit in Boston, Massachusetts on the outbound leg and stop in Los Angeles, California on the return before arriving back in Taiwan on the evening of July 18.
The president mentioned that he was invited by the leaders of these three ROC allies, and that he will conduct wide-ranging and in-depth discussions centering on issues of mutual interest, hoping to better understand their current state, expand and strengthen bilateral cooperation, and promote partnerships of sustainable development.
As for the ROC's "viable diplomacy," the president stated that the government has adopted a professional and above-board attitude to conduct diplomacy based on the principles of pragmatism, dignity, autonomy, and flexibility. We have also promoted reconciliation between the two sides of the Taiwan Strait under the"1992 Consensus," whereby each side acknowledges the existence of "one China" but maintains its own interpretation of what that means. These efforts to improve cross-strait relations and enhance the ROC's international presence have yielded considerable results and been praised by the international community. The ROC, therefore, maintains even closer and more stable ties with its diplomatic allies. The number of countries and areas that provide ROC nationals with visa-free entry, landing visa courtesies, or other visa conveniences has increased to 142, compared with 54 before President Ma took office. According to a survey by a foreign website, the ROC passport is ranked as the 22nd most useful in the world, highlighting that Taiwan is widely respected within the international community. Also, we have been invited to attend the World Health Assembly for seven consecutive years, and the Assembly of the International Civil Aviation Organization for the first time in 2013. All of these examples, the president said, prove that the ROC enjoys greater participation in the international community.
President Ma noted that the ROC maintains diplomatic relations with 12 nations in Latin America and the Caribbean, and enjoys historically long-term ties with most of them. Our government has embraced the three principles of "seeking proper goals, acting lawfully, and exercising effective administration" in conducting our foreign aid policy to assist our diplomatic allies in promoting cooperative projects which are beneficial to their people's lives. This allows people in allied nations to truly understand our assistance and goodwill, and enables ROC diplomats stationed abroad to take a principled stance in their work.
The president stated that he is scheduled to travel over 34,000 kilometers during this trip. Although he will visit distant lands, he said, he believes that joint efforts by the members of the delegation will achieve the trip's mission and express our friendship toward our allies, thereby further bridging the distance and solidifying the ROC's friendship with our Latin American allies.
Among those at the Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport to wish President Ma a pleasant and successful journey were Secretary-General to the President Tseng Yung-chuan (曾永權), National Security Council Deputy Secretary-General Chao Ke-ta (趙克達), Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs Vanessa Yea-Ping Shih (史亞平), Vice Minister of Economic Affairs Cho Shih-chao (卓士昭), Overseas Community Affairs Council Vice Minister Roy Yuan-Rong Leu (呂元榮), and Republic of Nauru Ambassador to the ROC Ludwig Dowong Keke, who is the head of the foreign diplomatic corps stationed in the ROC.