President Ma Ying-jeou met on the morning of August 20 with a delegation led by United States Congresswoman Lois Frankel. In addition to extending a cordial welcome to the visitors, the president also explained the government's efforts and achievements in promoting ROC-US relations and cross-strait ties.
In remarks, President Ma stated that the four members of the US House of Representatives in the delegation are all resolute friends of the ROC. Representative Frankel, the leader of the delegation, in 2015 delivered a statement in Congress marking the 36th anniversary of the passage of the Taiwan Relations Act (TRA). Representative Frederica Wilson is a member of the Congressional Taiwan Caucus and has signed petitions in support of many Taiwan-related resolutions. Representative Michelle Lujan Grisham is also an outstanding friend to Taiwan and previously cast a vote in support of Taiwan's participation in the International Civil Aviation Organization. And Representative Stacey Plaskett went to Logan International Airport in Boston, Massachusetts last month to welcome President Ma when he arrived in the city on a transit stop prior to visiting three allies in Latin America on a trip codenamed the Forever Rising Project. Representative Plaskett also attended a luncheon at Harvard University to welcome the president and a subsequent seminar.
President Ma stated that these four congresswomen are not only distinguished politicians, but are also outstanding models of women in politics, further commenting that he has placed considerable emphasis on the topic of gender equality since he took office in 2008. The government and the corporate community in recent years have also worked together in promoting the concept of equal rights, and the 2013 Gender Inequality Index formulated by the United Nations Development Programme ranked Taiwan as having the fifth highest level of gender equality in the world, and the highest in Asia. This shows that the international community has recognized the efforts of the ROC in promoting gender equality, the president said.
Commenting on ROC-US relations, President Ma mentioned that former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and current Secretary of State John Kerry have commented on bilateral relations in a positive light, saying, for example, that Taiwan is "an important security and economic partner" of the United States. In May of this year Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs Susan Thornton, in an address at the Brookings Institution, also stressed how good Taiwan-US relations are and referred to Taiwan as a vital partner of the United States in East Asia. This year US Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs Daniel Russel and Deputy Assistant Secretary Thornton also respectively emphasized that Taiwan-US relations have been closer, and that this is closely related to progress in cross-strait relations.
President Ma then discussed relations between the two sides of the Taiwan Strait, saying that since he took office his administration has worked to maintain the status quo of "no unification, no independence, and no use of force" in the Taiwan Strait under the framework of the ROC Constitution, while promoting the peaceful development of cross-strait ties based on the 1992 Consensus. This is the most critical political basis for cross-strait relations and shared by both sides, which he said molded the status quo.
The president stated that over the past seven years Taiwan and mainland China have signed 21 agreements. During that same period, visitors from mainland China have made over 14 million trips to Taiwan, almost four million of them in the past year alone. The heads of the agencies on either side responsible for cross-strait affairs have also met a total of five times, and referred to each other using their official titles. All of these developments indicate that cross-strait relations are the most stable and peaceful they have been in the past 66 years.
Mentioning the achievements of the government in improving cross-strait relations, the president pointed out that during the August 23 Artillery War of 1958 in Kinmen, the Communist Chinese army suddenly began an intense bombardment of Kinmen. Over 470,000 shells fell on the island in a bombing campaign that shocked the people of the ROC and the world. The incident lasted for 44 days. Today, Kinmen is not being bombarded by artillery shells, but rather is a destination for mainland Chinese tourists, who have already made over one million discrete visits there. While in Kinmen, visitors from the mainland purchase kitchen knives, many of which are made from artillery shells fired on the island in the past. This reflects the enormous change in cross-strait relations in recent years and that the development of ties emphasizes peace and prosperity. President Ma added that in fact, the stable development of cross-strait relations not only fosters regional peace and stability, but also provides a foundation for promoting the US "rebalancing toward Asia" policy.
With respect to Taiwan's relations with the United States and mainland China, the president said that after he took office his administration worked aggressively to restore mutual trust at the highest levels of government, and create the conditions under which the United States could interact concurrently with mainland China and Taiwan, while Taiwan could concurrently develop relations with mainland China and the United States. This situation has made it easier to maintain peace in the Taiwan Strait, he stated.
As for trade and economic relations, President Ma noted that Taiwan last year vaulted past India and Saudi Arabia to become the 10th largest trading partner of the United States, while the United States has outpaced Japan to become Taiwan's second largest trading partner. The United States is now actively promoting Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP)-related negotiations and gradually achieving results. As TPP members absorb 35% of Taiwan's exports in terms of dollar value, the ROC government hopes to participate in the second round of TPP's multilateral trade negotiations. Actually, the president said, the ROC is ranked fifth in East Asia in terms of trade and investment, and Taiwan's entry into the TPP would be of great benefit to the trade bloc. President Ma stated that he is pleased that a number of senior American officials, including US Assistant Secretary of State Daniel Russel, have welcomed Taiwan's desire to become a TPP signatory.
The president also focused on international cooperation between the ROC and the United States, pointing out that the Pacific Islands Leadership Program is a joint initiative between the two countries. Meanwhile, with the cooperation of the United States, Taiwan also set up a training course to provide basic and advanced education to people involved in Ebola prevention and treatment work throughout the region. On June 1 the ROC and the United States also signed a memorandum of cooperation on the Global Cooperation Training Framework (GCTF) at the Taipei Guest House, and jointly held an International Training Course on Molecular Diagnosis of Middle East Respiratory Virus (MERS) Co-V, the inaugural event held under the GCTF, he said.
Discussing cooperation in the area of security, the president stressed that over the past seven years the United States has sold the ROC over US$18.3 billion worth of arms, the highest amount in the past two decades and double the amount that the US sold to the previous ROC administration. In addition, the US government in December of last year signed the Naval Vessel Transfer Act of 2014, approving the sale of four Oliver Hazard Perry-class frigates to Taiwan. This past May the United States also invited Taiwan to participate in the Rim of the Pacific Exercise (RIMPAC) and Red Flag training exercises. All of these examples demonstrate that the US administrative and legislative branches are upholding the TRA and the Six Assurances, and fulfilling the US security commitment to Taiwan, said the president.