On the morning of March 15, President Ma Ying-jeou continued with his busy itinerary for a second day in Guatemala on his Central American trip, codenamed the Forever Peaceful Project. After breakfasting with the delegation's traveling press corps, the president paid an official call on Rafael Rojas (President of the Supreme Court of Justice) and Oswaldo Ivan Arevalo Barrios (Acting President of the Congress of the Republic) and attended a solemn session of the congress. President Ma then held a reception to thank his hosts for their hospitality.
President Ma and the traveling press corps started the day with breakfast at 7:30 a.m. (Taipei time: 9:30 p.m., March 15). The president noted that the delegation was beginning day three of its itinerary. Mentioning his visit to a Formosa Plastics plant during the delegation's transit stop in Houston, he told listeners that Formosa Plastics is continually expanding its US investments, and said that he had been especially impressed by the 134-car train used to transport materials within the plant.
President Ma pointed out that after the delegation arrived in Guatemala on March 14, he and Guatemala's President Jimmy Morales held bilateral talks, engaging in a detailed exchange of views on cooperation between the two countries. And during the state banquet that evening, President Morales mentioned to him that public security is the Guatemalan government's most important policy focus, so President Ma shared information with his counterpart regarding what has been done over the past eight years to improve crime prevention in Taiwan. Taiwan's overall crime rate, he said, has fallen by about 40%, and he pointed out specifically that the number of crimes involving scams has dropped by half, larceny by 70%, and violent crimes by 80%. In addition, the number of deaths caused by drunk drivers fell by 80% from 727 in 2006 to 142 in 2015.
The ROC has helped the Dominican Republic set up a 911 emergency reporting system, said the president, adding that this is just one example of how the ROC is ready and willing to share with Guatemala its crime prevention experiences. Taiwan's public security experiences, electronic toll collection (ETC), and high-speed rail can be viewed as "exportable service industries" that can be referenced and utilized by our allies.
President Ma mentioned that the ROC conducts its foreign assistance policy wherein the purpose must be legitimate, the process must be lawful, and the implementation must be effective. During the past eight years, he said, although the ROC government has spent about NT$16.3 billion less on its foreign affairs budget than it did during the eight-year rule of his predecessor, the current administration has still performed quite well in the diplomatic arena. The main objective of this overseas trip, he noted, is to ensure the continuity of the "viable diplomacy" policy: "We can't let up on diplomacy just because the handover to a new administration is coming up soon." The president stressed that he is continuing to implement the "viable diplomacy" policy in order to help the incoming president preserve the ROC's diplomatic position, and to make sure that the handover goes smoothly.
President Ma then responded to questions from reporters. Subjects mentioned included the person recently chosen to become the premier in the incoming administration, the treatment accorded by the US authorities to the delegation during the transit stop in the US, and the ROC's relationship with the Vatican.
After finishing breakfast with the traveling press corps, President Ma and his delegation proceeded to the Guatemalan Supreme Court of Justice to meet with the court president and his fellow justices. The two sides engaged in a wide-ranging exchange of views on the judicial systems of their two countries.
At 10:30 a.m. (Taipei time: 12:30 a.m., March 16), the president and his delegation went to Guatemala's congress to pay a visit to congressional Acting President Arevalo. While there, President Ma delivered a speech before the congress.
President Ma started his speech by briefly greeting Mr. Arevalo and the assembled legislators in Spanish. Noting that after his election as president he had visited Guatemala in 2009, President Ma said he was honored to be leading another delegation seven years later, and grateful that the halls of congress convened a special solemn session, gave him such an enthusiastic welcome, and invited him to speak.
President Ma stated that he and the delegation, since arriving the previous day in Guatemala, had gotten a strong sense of Guatemala's tremendous political, economic, and social progress. The country has abundant material wealth, and its people are hard-working. For centuries, he said, Guatemala has been the political and cultural heart of Central America. Its rich historic and cultural heritage includes the Tikal National Park and the ancient capital of Antigua, and many outstanding people hail from Guatemala, including Miguel Angel Asturias, who holds a Nobel Prize in Literature.
President Ma mentioned that Guatemala once fought a 40-year civil war, but since the signing of a peace accord in 1996, the country's government and people have overcome an extremely difficult domestic and international situation by working together to rebuild the nation and seeking democracy, freedom, and peace. Together, they have created the vital and prosperous Guatemala of today. The progress achieved there, said the president, is admirable.
Noting that Taiwan and Guatemala are working toward the shared goal of peace, President Ma stressed that the ROC, too, in the 105 years since its founding, has suffered through long periods of war that seriously affected the processes of nation building and economic development. Over the past several decades, moreover, the ROC has continued to live under military threat from mainland China. The Taiwan Strait was once seen as a potential flashpoint for East Asian conflict, which is why he has been working since taking office in 2008 to improve relations with mainland China and create a better atmosphere in the Taiwan Strait. In fact, the two sides have now signed 23 agreements, and the ministers in charge of cross-strait affairs from each side have met seven times, addressing each other using their official titles during those meetings. On November 7 last year, predicated on equality and dignity, he also met with mainland Chinese leader Xi Jinping (習近平) in Singapore to discuss how to consolidate peace in the Taiwan Strait and maintain the status quo in cross-strait relations. This was the first time since the two sides came under separate rule 67 years ago that their respective leaders had formally met. That meeting laid the foundation for peace in the Taiwan Strait, and "opened up new possibilities" for future cross-strait relations.
Turning to the subject of people-to-people ties across the Taiwan Strait, President Ma pointed out that before he took office there were no direct, regularly scheduled cross-strait flights, but today there are 120 per day, and the cumulative number of tourist arrivals from the mainland has topped 18 million. In addition, the number of mainland students studying in Taiwan has jumped from 823 before he took office to 42,000, which is more than a 50-fold increase. All of these concrete results clearly show that the Taiwan Strait has thus been transformed from a potential battlefield into a boulevard of peace and prosperous marketplace.
Turning to the topic of regional peace, President Ma indicated that in addition to promoting peace in the Taiwan Strait, the ROC is also actively seeking peaceful development in the East China Sea. He proposed the East China Sea Peace Initiative in 2012 to urge all parties to shelve controversies and jointly develop resources. Thereafter, acting in line with the principle that "although sovereignty over national territory cannot be compromised, natural resources can be shared," Taiwan and Japan signed a fisheries agreement that effectively resolved a 40-year fishing dispute and enabled fishing crews to take in significantly larger catches. The US, the European Union, New Zealand, and Australia have all praised that agreement.
Commenting on conditions in the South China Sea, President Ma pointed out that in 2015 he followed up on the success of the East China Sea Peace Initiative by putting forward the South China Sea Peace Initiative to urge all parties to resolve disputes peacefully. Subsequently, Taiwan and the Philippines signed the Agreement Concerning the Facilitation of Cooperation on Law Enforcement in Fisheries Matters. The agreement establishes three points of consensus on law enforcement at sea, with the two sides agreeing to refrain from using force in law enforcement actions, notify each other prior to such actions, and release any arrested crew members or detained fishing vessels within three days. The agreement will thus help diminish the fisheries disputes that have plagued the two countries for decades while also helping the ROC's peace efforts bear fruit, and has thus received wide praise in the international community.
Commenting on international relations, President Ma noted that the ROC only has 22 formal diplomatic allies, yet 161 nations and areas throughout the world now provide visa-free courtesies or landing visas to ROC nationals. In addition, after a hiatus of 38 years, Taiwan has now been represented by its Minister of Health at the World Health Assembly for seven consecutive years. All these achievements are peace dividends that have resulted from Taiwan's efforts to promote peace.
The president, speaking on behalf of the government and people of the ROC, expressed sincere gratitude to Guatemala and all the other ROC diplomatic allies that have spoken up over the years in support of Taiwan at international venues. Their support, he said, has made it possible for Taiwan to participate in international organizations and their activities.
President Ma expressed hope that this trip would further deepen and expand the cooperative relationship between Taiwan and Guatemala. In the field of health care, Taiwan has helped Guatemala establish a liver transplant center, and would like to help lower the infant mortality rate and expand the scope of healthcare cooperation. President Ma stated that during the state banquet the previous day, he and President Morales discussed how to strengthen bilateral cooperation with regard to public security. With that in mind, he said, Taiwan will act as quickly as possible to set up a bilateral cooperation framework to share experiences, so that Guatemala can quickly improve the public safety situation.
And finally, President Ma signed the congressional guest book and penned a Chinese phrase: "Renowned for integrity and sterling achievement, creating greater benefit for the people."
President Ma then held a noon reception at his hotel to thank the hosts for their hospitality. In remarks, he started by thanking President Morales in Spanish. He stated that his delegation had received warm hospitality throughout their stay from President Morales, Vice President Jafeth Cabrera, Acting President Arevalo of the Guatemalan Congress, President Rojas of the Supreme Court, and President Jose Antonio Alvarado of the Central American Parliament, and for this he offered his deepest appreciation.
President Ma stated that diplomatic ties between the ROC and Guatemala date back over 80 years, with close and frequent cooperation and exchanges. Whenever either of the two countries is hit by a natural disaster, the other always provides all possible assistance. After Guatemala experienced an earthquake in 2012, for example, the ROC helped rebuild two bridges, and during droughts there in 2014 and 2015, the ROC provided food staples for people in the affected areas. In 2015, heavy rains triggered a landslide that hit the settlement of El Cambray II, not far from the nation's capital, and the ROC responded with emergency donations to support reconstruction efforts. And just this past February 6, following a major earthquake that struck the city of Tainan in southern Taiwan, President Morales personally sent a moving telegram to the ROC Ambassador to Guatemala John C.C. Lai (賴建中) to express his concern.
Noting that Guatemala has encouraged and supported Taiwan's quest for meaningful participation in the World Health Organization, the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, and the International Civil Aviation Organization, President Ma thanked Guatemala on behalf of the government and people of Taiwan.
March 18 happened to be the 47th birthday of President Morales, so President Ma took the opportunity to wish him a happy birthday, and also expressed his wishes for strong and lasting diplomatic ties between the two countries.