ROC President Ma Yin-jeou said May 24 that his administration would continue to follow the principle of “keeping a low profile and doing nothing unexpected” in its interactions with the U.S.
Ma made the remarks while receiving Jeb Bush, former governor of Florida, at the Presidential Office in Taipei. Bush is the son of George H.W. Bush, the 41st U.S. president, and the younger brother of George W. Bush, the 43rd U.S. president.
“Ties between Taiwan and the U.S. have been close,” Ma said. “Bush senior agreed to sell 150 F-16 A/B fighter jets to Taiwan in 1992, greatly benefiting our defense capability, while Bush junior praised Taiwan as the lighthouse of democracy in Asia and the world in 2008 and said that the U.S. will do everything possible to maintain Taiwan’s self-defense abilities.”
Ma noted that since he took office four years ago, he has spared no efforts in maintaining a high level of trust between Taipei and Washington.
Taiwan-U.S. ties have become closer and more stable over the past years, Ma continued, pointing to a statement by U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Summit in Honolulu, Hawaii, last November in which she said Taiwan is an important security and economic partner of the U.S.
The president added that after two years of hard work, Taiwan is expected to be granted visa-waiver program membership by the U.S. in the second half of this year. “From past experiences, once ROC citizens obtain such privilege, the number of Taiwanese tourists to the U.S. will increase significantly.”
In addition, Ma said his administration is working to resume the Trade and Investment Framework Agreement talks with the U.S. to boost economic ties between both sides. “We hope to settle the U.S. beef issue as soon as possible and strengthen bilateral trade and investment step by step.” (HZW)
Write to Grace Kuo at mlkuo@mofa.gov.tw