President Ma Ying-jeou delivered an address to the National Congress of the Dominican Republic and toured the 911 Emergency Response Center on the afternoon of July 13, and in the evening attended a banquet jointly hosted by the presidents of the Chamber of Deputies and Senate.
When President Ma arrived at the National Congress, Senate President Christina Lizardo Mezquita and Chamber of Deputies President Abel Martinez Duran were on hand to greet him, with the Dominican Republic providing a warm welcome with full military honors.
With the full National Congress on hand, Senate President Lizardo called for a minute of silence to pray for those injured in the recent powder explosion at Formosa Fun Coast water park in northern Taiwan in late June, and for their speedy recovery. She also expressed her deepest concern and best wishes for the people of the ROC.
Prior to delivering his speech, President Ma spoke briefly in Spanish, thanking the National Congress for its longstanding support for the ROC. He then mentioned that he was deeply honored to lead a delegation to visit the Dominican Republic for the third time at the invitation of President Danilo Medina.
President Ma also expressed his gratitude to the National Congress for convening a special session and inviting him to deliver an address on cross-strait relations, the ROC's foreign, economic, and trade policies, as well as the friendly and cooperative relationship between the ROC and the Dominican Republic.
Commenting on the ROC's cross-strait policy, the president stated that he has strived to improve cross-strait relations since taking office in 2008 and promoted a "viable diplomacy" policy, and the two sides of the Taiwan Strait have stopped undermining each other in the diplomatic arena, thereby expanding Taiwan's ability to participate in the international community. Over the past seven years, President Ma noted, the two sides have signed 21 agreements and have reached consensus on two issues that encompass economic, trade, transportation, healthcare, and mutual judicial assistance issues. Prior to President Ma's term of office, mainland Chinese made about 200,000 visits to Taiwan each year, whereas 14 million visits have been made over the past seven years, including nearly four million last year alone. In addition, the number of mainland students studying in Taiwan jumped from 823 when he took office to 32,000 last year, a 40-fold increase. All of these developments indicate that cross-strait relations are the most stable and peaceful they have been in the past 66 years, said the president.
President Ma then noted that the international community has affirmed and encouraged the peaceful interaction between the two sides of the Taiwan Strait. The ROC also enjoys stable friendships with its diplomatic allies. Furthermore, the number of countries and areas that provide visa-free courtesies or landing visas to ROC nationals has considerably increased. In the twenty years prior to his first inauguration, there were never more than 54, whereas there are now 142. In addition, after an absence of 38 years, since 2009 Taiwan has participated in the World Health Assembly for seven consecutive years, and in 2013 attended the assembly of the International Civil Aviation Organization for the first time in 42 years. All of these examples show that Taiwan's relations with both the international community and mainland China have been transformed from a vicious cycle into a virtuous cycle.
The president told those in attendance that the ROC is pursuing peace in the Taiwan Strait with the hope of extending that peace to the East China Sea and the South China Sea. He therefore unveiled his East China Sea Peace Initiative in 2012, proposing that although sovereignty over national territory cannot be compromised, natural resources can be shared. Eight months later Taiwan and Japan signed a fisheries agreement, fully implementing the concept underlying that initiative. In that accord, Taiwan did not cede one inch on its claim of sovereignty, while fishermen's catches have significantly increased.
The president noted that in the international community, the ROC hopes to be a provider of humanitarian aid. For instance, he said, after a devastating earthquake shook Haiti in January 2010 the ROC immediately dispatched a rescue and relief team, and built 200 permanent homes and 500 pre-fabricated structures to assist in reconstruction. Generous donations by the government and people of Taiwan to Japan after the earthquake in 2011 exceeded those from all other nations combined.
President Ma then discussed Taiwan's external trade policy, noting that since taking office his administration has signed economic cooperation agreements with the ROC's major trading partners, including the Cross-Straits Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement with mainland China, the Taiwan-Japan Bilateral Investment Arrangement, the ANZTEC agreement with New Zealand, and the ASTEP agreement with Singapore. Taiwan and the United States also resumed negotiations under the Trade and Investment Framework Agreement. The government is also actively seeking to join the Trans-Pacific Partnership and the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership, hoping to allow Taiwan to compete with other nations on a fair and equitable basis, he said.
The president then noted that bilateral cooperation between the ROC and the Dominican Republic has expanded and deepened over the years.
He specifically mentioned the 911 Emergency Response Center as an example, pointing out that since it was launched, the center has successfully reduced the crime rate in the greater Santo Domingo metropolitan area. Residents of the area have responded favorably to the center, which has helped to create a safer environment and better protect the property of residents. The project will be extended to northern areas in the near future with the hope of generating greater wellbeing for these individuals, he said. President Ma also noted that in the morning he toured the Center for Comprehensive Care for the Disabled (Centro de Atención Integral para la Discapacidad, CAID) in Santo Domingo. The center was a joint project of Taiwan and the Dominican Republic, and the president said that he was impressed by its wide range of facilities. The ROC will continue to provide funding so that four other centers can be completed on schedule to provide more comprehensive care for mentally and physically challenged children.
President Ma remarked that on July 13 he toured the Journey of Hope (Camino de Esperanza), a community center for children in San Luis inaugurated this past June that was built with the assistance of the Care to Help Foundation—a non-governmental organization led by an overseas ROC compatriot residing in the United States. The well-planned center has a library, computer classroom, and a small clinic, and the ROC government has donated computers to the center to help reduce the digital divide facing the people in the local community. In addition, the North American Taiwanese Medical Association organized a medical mission to the Dominican Republic in 2013, providing free clinical services to over 6,000 patients. Taiwan's Tzu Chi Foundation, meanwhile, established an elementary school on the outskirts of La Romana City back in 2000 that not only provides children with educational opportunities, but has also changed the overall atmosphere within the community.
The president also discussed the state of bilateral investment and prospects in this regard. He said that currently, 75 Taiwanese companies have invested in the Dominican Republic. The Hong Fu Group and General Footwear Industrial Co., both of which manufacture shoes, set up factories there last year that are expected to create tens of thousands of jobs and help develop the local shoe industry. President Ma also mentioned that earlier in the day when he held discussions with President Medina, the two agreed that the Dominican Republic should send an investment promotion mission to Taiwan, thereby encouraging Taiwan businesses to invest in the free trade zone in the Dominican Republic.
To conclude his address, President Ma quoted a famous statement by Juan Pablo Duarte, one of the founding fathers of the Dominican Republic, "Trabajemos por y para la patria, que es trabajar para nuestros hijos y para nosotros mismos." ("Let us work for the country, for in so doing we work for ourselves and for our children."), encouraging both countries to work together to promote wellbeing for the public.
The president went on to say that July 13 was his 65th birthday, and that he was deeply honored to hold discussions with President Medina in the morning on bilateral cooperation projects, and visit and address the National Congress in the afternoon. In closing, President Ma invited all the senators and deputies to rise and chant with him in Spanish, "Long live friendship!"
After President Ma concluded his address, Senate President Lizardo and Chamber of Deputies President Martinez jointly presented him with a certificate of appreciation, a testament to the deep friendship between the two countries.
President Ma then left the National Congress and visited the 911 Emergency Response Center, where he toured the call center that receives emergency calls and the surveillance service command center to understand the processes and procedures used to respond to emergency calls. Over the past two years the ROC has donated to the center 80 ambulances and 1,000 Taiwan-made motorcycles outfitted for use by the police and emergency rescue. The president acknowledged the role that these vehicles play in enhancing the capacity of the center to respond to medical emergencies.
In the evening, the presidents of the two houses of the National Congress hosted a banquet in honor of President Ma. During the dinner, the president pointed out that the leaders of the Senate and Chamber of Deputies visited the ROC in March 2015 and September 2014, respectively, and that he held cordial discussions with them during their visits, exchanging opinions on the political and economic situation in both countries. The president said that he was delighted to see his good friends again.
President Ma acknowledged the Dominican Republic's stable economic growth over the past few years, specifically mentioning that the nation's growth rate of 7.3% last year was one of the highest in Latin America. He also noted that President Medina is deeply concerned about unemployment among youth in his country. He thus shared the ROC's experiences in encouraging entrepreneurship among youth and strengthening cooperation between the industrial and academic sectors.
At the end of his speech, President Ma invited the presidents of the Senate and Chamber of Deputies, along with all the other guests attending the banquet, to raise their glasses to a long lasting alliance and friendship between the two countries.