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Ma meets with RAMSI during Solomon visit

President Ma Ying-jeou (left) hugs Kava villiage chief Stanley Tapeva in a show of gratitude for donating around US$140 to victims of Typhoon Morakot last August.(CNA)

• Publication Date：03/26/2010
• Source： United Daily News

ROC President Ma Ying-jeou visited the headquarters of the Regional Assistance Mission to the Solomon Islands in the nation’s capital Honiara March 24.

“The Australian government, which plays a leading role in RAMSI, used to be unfriendly toward Taiwan. However, I believe this attitude has changed in light of our efforts to engage in dialogue with RAMSI,” Ma said.

The president made the remarks after listening to a briefing on the region’s development presented by RAMSI Special Coordinator Graeme Wilson.

“President Ma’s attendance at the meeting should be seen as a breakthrough in ROC relations with RAMSI and, indirectly, with Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific Island Forum,” said ROC Ambassador to the Solomon Islands George Chan.

“Such a development should be attributed to President Ma’s ‘flexible diplomacy’ policy and improving status of cross-strait relations. This also proves that years of effort on the part of the local ROC embassy has let RAMSI know that its mission in the Solomon Islands and that of Taiwan run parallel.”

Despite 27 years of diplomatic ties with Honiara, Taipei has been excluded from RAMSI meetings due to perceptions that the ROC’s foreign aid policy was designed to meddle in the country’s internal affairs.

The ROC government’s ongoing efforts to expand communication channels with RAMSI first paid dividends in 2007 when its ambassador was invited to participate in monthly consultative meetings on promoting good governance in the Solomons.

These sessions were attended by representatives from the governments of Australia, Japan, New Zealand and the U.S., their respective foreign assistance agencies, the U.N. Development Program, World Bank and Asian Development Bank.

RAMSI, a partnership between the Solomon Islands and 15 contributing Pacific nations, is a long-term exercise aimed at helping create conditions necessary for the country’s return to stability, peace and economic prosperity.

Separately, Ma thanked a Solomon Island village chief for donating around US$140 to help Taiwan’s victims of Typhoon Morakot.

“You showed your sympathy for Taiwan and its typhoon victims even though they are so far away,” Ma said while hugging Chief Stanley Tapeva of Kava village. “I thank you on behalf of my people.”

According to Tapeva, upon hearing a radio news bulletin that Typhoon Morakot had hit Taiwan, he mobilized his villagers to donate money for victims. The chief said he then walked for 18 hours from Kava to the nearest fishing port and took a six-hour boat trip to the Honiara to hand over the donation to an ROC Agricultural Technical Team representative

“This was our way of giving thanks for ROC agricultural assistance programs in the village,” he said.

Later, Tapeva gave Ma a model wooden canoe with the name “Kava” carved into its hull, a model fishnet, a walking stick and a woven mat. “You can travel on the boat and fish and when you are tired you can rest on the mat,” the chief told the president.

In return, Ma gave Tapeva an HTC Corp. Tattoo mobile phone and said he would send a technician to instruct the chief in how to use the phone.

The president and his entourage arrived in Palau at midday Taiwan time after a refueling stop in Guam. (CYH-JSM)