President Ma Ying-jeou departed on the morning of March 13 on a trip to visit two of the ROC's diplomatic allies, Guatemala and Belize. In remarks delivered before boarding his aircraft, President Ma stated that he was embarking on this trip in response to invitations from President Jimmy Morales of Guatemala, Prime Minister Dean O. Barrow of Belize, and President Jose Antonio Alvarado of the Central American Parliament (PARLACEN). President Ma stated that his delegation will make transit stops in Houston on the outbound leg of the trip, and in Los Angeles on the return. He further noted that the stop in Houston will mark his first transit stop in the American South during a state trip overseas. The delegation is scheduled to arrive back in Taiwan on the afternoon of March 19.
President Ma noted that the ROC maintains official ties with 12 diplomatic allies in Latin American and the Caribbean. Guatemala, with a population of 15.8 million, is the ROC's largest diplomatic ally in Latin America and second-largest in the world, and is thus very important. He will also meet newly inaugurated President Morales for the first time. President Ma also mentioned that he will give a speech at the PARLACEN, and that PARLACEN President Alvarado is a fellow graduate of Harvard University. PARLACEN members are all veteran politicians from throughout Central America, and include former heads and deputy heads of state, prime ministers, and other top officials. He further added that the prime ministers of the ROC's three diplomatic allies in the eastern Caribbean—St. Lucia, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, and St. Christopher and Nevis—will each make a special trip to meet with him in Belize, so even though he is only visiting two diplomatic allies, he will actually meet with heads of state, prime ministers, and senior officials from ten diplomatic allies. These meetings, he said, will play an important role in helping to consolidate friendly relations.
President Ma reiterated that although he will leave office as president of the ROC in two months, "the government has no such thing as a caretaker period, nor do foreign relations go into a lull." Consolidating friendship with the ROC's diplomatic allies is one of the president's important responsibilities, which is why, since taking office, he has spared no effort on the diplomatic front, and has always done what needs to be done without ever wavering. Through it all, said the president, he has been guided by the principle that "effort can compensate for any lack of talent, and long familiarity leads to solid expertise," and at all times has sought what's best for the nation and the people.
Commenting on the ROC's diplomatic success, President Ma stated that over the past eight years his administration has eschewed the "scorched earth diplomacy" and "checkbook diplomacy" of the past in favor of a "viable diplomacy" policy characterized by pragmatism, dynamism, and flexibility. The government has also sought to act in the international community as a peacemaker and a provider of humanitarian aid. During the eight-year rule of his predecessor, the ROC lost nine diplomatic allies and gained three others, for a net loss of six, "which was quite a big gap." Over the past seven-plus years, in contrast, ties with all of the government's diplomatic allies were quite stable; the only unfortunate exception was a unilateral severance of ties by Gambia, but that was the personal decision of the Gambian president, he added.
The president further pointed out that the cumulative foreign affairs budget over the past eight years totaled NT$224.6 billion, down by about NT$16.3 billion from the figure of NT$240.9 billion during the eight-year rule of his predecessor. On average, therefore, he spent roughly NT$2 billion less each year than the previous president. "I cut spending, but still got better results." And the government has earned respect from diplomatic allies and the larger international community for its efforts and successes in the diplomatic arena. To date, 161 nations and areas throughout the world now provide visa-free courtesies or landing visas to ROC nationals. Our nation, he said, has shed its negative image as a troublemaker, and is working to act instead as a peacemaker and a provider of humanitarian aid.
And finally, the president remarked, the delegation was expected to travel some 30,000 kilometers on this trip, but despite the great distance, he felt confident that the delegation's sincerity and goodwill will certainly engender closer ties between the ROC and its allies in the Latin American region, build strong friendships, and consolidate diplomatic relations.
Among those at the Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport to see President Ma off were Secretary-General to the President Tseng Yung-chuan (曾永權), National Security Council Deputy Secretary-General Chao Ke-ta (趙克達), Deputy Foreign Minister Bruce J. D. Linghu (令狐榮達), Deputy Minister of Overseas Community Affairs Council Shih-Chang Hsin (信世昌), Nauru Ambassador to the ROC Ludwig Dowong Keke (the head of the foreign diplomatic corps in the ROC), and Guatemalan Ambassador to the ROC Olga Maria Aguja Zuniga.