ROC President Ma Ying-jeou said he hopes the U.S. will grant visa-waiver privileges to ROC citizens in the second half of this year to further boost bilateral relations and exchanges between the two peoples.
Ma made the comments while receiving Jeffrey Bader, former senior director for East Asian affairs on the U.S. National Security Council, at the Presidential Office in Taipei March 26.
“More than 400,000 Taiwanese visit the U.S. every year and many of them make purchases during their trips,” Ma said. “The Visa Waiver Program can greatly help narrow the bilateral trade deficit.”
According to Ma, ties between Taiwan and the U.S. have been close in recent years. “Communication channels have been smooth since U.S. President Barack Obama took office in 2009,” he said, adding that “Taiwan has been able to obtain information on exchanges between the U.S. and mainland China, further bolstering mutual trust.”
In addition, Ma expressed gratitude to the Obama administration for agreeing in January 2010 and September 2011 to arms sales to Taiwan, worth US$12 billion in total, as well as for backing Taiwan at the World Health Assembly last May, during which U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius stressed that no U.N. agency should unilaterally determine Taiwan’s status.
Taiwan was nominated for inclusion in the U.S. Visa Waiver Program last December. In March of this year a key step in the island’s bid for membership in the VWP was carried out when a team from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security visited Taiwan to inspect its anti-terrorism and immigration procedures. (HZW)
Write to Grace Kuo at morningk@mail.gio.gov.tw