President Ma Ying-jeou on the evening of November 5 conferred the Order of Brilliant Jade with Grand Cordon on Sovereign Military Order of Malta Prince and Grand Master Fra' Matthew Festing at a ceremony at the Presidential Office Building, and also received the Collar of the Order Pro Merito Melitensi from Grand Master Festing. The medals are in recognition of the outstanding contributions made by the two leaders in promoting the alliance between the two sides.
In remarks, the president stated that in recent years the ROC and the Order of Malta have had frequent interaction at the highest levels, as they share the universal values of peace, democracy, human rights, humanitarian compassion, charitable medical assistance, and sustainable development. President Ma hopes that the two parties will work together to promote even more projects that enhance human welfare.
President Ma mentioned that this year is the 70th anniversary of the ROC's victory in the War of Resistance Against Japan, and that the government has held a series of commemorative activities to mark this important period of history. Grand Master Festing's father, Sir Francis Wogan Festing, a field marshal in the British Army, cooperated with ROC forces during the war as the two sides fought together against Japan in the Burma Theater. The government has thus arranged for Grand Master Festing to visit the Academia Historica and tour an exhibit with numerous historical documents and artifacts commemorating victory in the War of Resistance 70 years ago. The ROC is also posthumously conferring the Order of Resplendent Banner on Sir Francis Wogan Festing as a commemoration.
The president pointed out that the Catholic Church has been active in Taiwan for over 150 years, and besides spreading the gospel, the Church has made enormous contributions to Taiwan. It has sought to develop educational opportunities and construct hospitals, as well as provide assistance for the underprivileged in remote areas. The Church's efforts have been widely recognized and applauded here, he said. The government in June 2011 launched the Mackay Project (in recognition of the missionary Dr. George Leslie Mackay, 1844-1901) that provides foreign members of the clergy who are over 65 years old with a variety of social benefits to thank them for their longstanding contributions to Taiwan, the president said.
President Ma stressed that after he took office in 2008, his administration has carried out cooperation projects with its diplomatic allies under a foreign assistance policy wherein "the purpose must be legitimate, the process lawful, and the implementation effective." When major disasters occur throughout the world, the government works in conjunction with NGOs to provide assistance, he said. The ROC this year provided a donation to a new project in Ho Chi Minh City by the Order of Malta to treat and rehabilitate leprosy patients, fortifying a firm foundation for cooperation in providing medical assistance and humanitarian aid, said the president.
President Ma then mentioned that the ROC last year responded to the Ebola outbreak in Africa by donating 100,000 sets of personal protective equipment (PPE). We also contributed US$1 million to the US CDC Foundation, helping Asia-Pacific nations build up disease prevention capabilities. In addition, after a devastating earthquake hit Haiti in 2010, the ROC immediately dispatched a disaster rescue and relief team, and delivered material aid and medicine by air. The private sector here also donated about US$16 million to aid in rescue and relief efforts. Following the March 11, 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake, the people of the ROC donated some US$200 million to Japan. We also acted as a "provider of humanitarian aid" by providing assistance when natural disasters struck El Salvador, Nepal, and Guatemala. Previously an importer of compassionate care and charitable aid, the ROC has now become an exporter.
President Ma also said that sovereignty and maritime rights issues in the East China Sea and the South China Sea are of considerable concern to the ROC, and that its initiatives to resolve those issues have had some initial success. The president further explained that in 2013, Taiwan and Japan signed a fisheries agreement, resolving a bilateral fishing dispute in the East China Sea that had lasted 40 years. The president hopes that the government's experience in promoting peace and cooperation in the East China Sea can be extended to the South China Sea, so that disputes in that area can be resolved peacefully, which would be conducive to regional stability, he said.
After receiving the medal, Grand Master Festing stated that he is extremely honored to be recognized for his work in promoting relations between the Order of Malta and Taiwan, and hopes the two sides will continue their friendly relationship and further their cooperation in medical and humanitarian assistance.
Also witnessing the ceremony were the Order's Grand Hospitaller Dominique de La Rochefoucauld-Montbel, Ambassador to the Holy See Alberto Leoncini Bartoli, Ambassador to Thailand and Cambodia Michael Mann, the ROC's Secretary-General to the President Tseng Yung-chuan (曾永權), and Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Simon Shen-Yeaw Ko (柯森耀).