ROC President Ma Ying-jeou unveiled plans Oct. 24 to further promote cross-strait relations by expanding exchanges, establishing reciprocal representative offices, completing economic agreements and reviewing relevant laws.
The president’s comments came at a meeting of the ruling Kuomintang’s Central Standing Committee, according to a KMT official present at the gathering.
“There is a good opportunity for cooperation in academics as 3.5 million mainland Chinese don’t have the chance to get an education,” Ma said. “Universities in Taiwan have resources and available student quotas, so the field is ripe for collaboration.”
Currently, there are 13,000 mainland Chinese exchange students in the country, and 1,000 full-time students, Ma pointed out. “These numbers can be increased,” he said.
Ma noted that there is a real need for representative offices, with 7 million Taiwanese traveling across the strait every year and large numbers of mainland Chinese tourists coming to Taiwan. Now that bilateral ties have developed to such a degree, setting up reciprocal offices is a natural development, he said, although legal amendments and legislative oversight will be necessary.
With regard to the Act Governing Relations between the People of the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area, the president called for revisions to allow mainland Chinese spouses to apply for an identification card after residing in Taiwan for four years, in line with the regulations for foreign spouses, instead of the present six years.
“Moreover, the right to work and the ID card should be treated as separate issues,” he said.
In the remaining three years of his presidency, he also hopes to see follow-up negotiations under the Cross-Straits Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement completed, and more economic agreements finalized, Ma said. (THN)
Write to Grace Kuo at mlkuo@mofa.gov.tw