ROC President Ma Ying-jeou reaffirmed strong Taiwan-U.S. relations Aug. 23, vowing to further strengthen bilateral exchanges across a spectrum of areas.
“Since I took office in May 2008, the government’s low-profile and surprise-free approach to promoting Taiwan-U.S. relations has won respect and successfully restored mutual trust,” Ma said.
The president made the remarks while receiving U.S. Reps. Judy Chu and Madeleine Bordallo, chairwoman and deputy chair of the U.S. Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus, at the Presidential Office in Taipei City.
Ma said close Taiwan-U.S. ties are illustrated by his better-than-expected treatment during recent transits in New York and Los Angeles while undertaking an 11-day diplomatic ally visit to Paraguay and four Caribbean nations.
“I was impressed by the seniority of visiting officials and warmth of reception extended to my delegation, as well as the breadth and depth of issues I discussed with U.S. politicians.”
Ma said his meetings and telephone calls with a number of U.S. lawmakers affirmed that the government is on the right track in its efforts to promote regional security and peace. These include the East China Sea peace initiative, signing the Taiwan-Japan fisheries agreement, and peaceful resolution of the fishing boat incident with the Philippine government.
The healthy state of Taiwan-U.S. affairs is further underscored by Taiwan’s purchase of US$18.3 billion in arms from the U.S., opening to U.S. beef imports, and resumption of bilateral talks under the Trade and Investment Framework Agreement, he said.
Both sides achieved fruitful results at the TIFA talks in March, Ma said, citing new joint statements on investment principles and information and communication technology services, and the launch of new TIFA working groups on investment and technical barriers to trade.
It is hoped that Taiwan and the U.S. will continue promoting economic cooperation and trade under the TIFA, Ma said, adding that Taiwan also wishes to join regional trade blocs such as the Trans-Pacific Partnership.
The TPP is a proposed trade agreement comprising negotiating partners Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore, Vietnam and the U.S. Other nations such as Japan and South Korea are also looking to join discussions on the nascent pact.
Other evidence of strong Taiwan-U.S. ties include the fact that U.S. President Barack Obama said during a meeting with mainland Chinese leader Xi Jinping in June that his administration strongly supports the improvement in cross-strait ties over the last few years and hopes the process will continue in a way acceptable to both sides, according to Ma.
The president also extended gratitude to backing from the U.S. House of Representatives on Taiwan’s bid for observer status in the International Civil Aviation Organization. Ma said he hopes that H.R. 1151, which was signed into law July 12 by Obama, will help Taiwan participate in ICAO’s triennial assembly set down for September in Montreal, Canada.
“Taiwan-U.S. relations are at the highest levels in 30 years, and the support of U.S. Congress plays a key role,” Ma said. “We hope to see more initiatives and legislation bolstering and consolidating two-way cooperation and exchanges.” (RC-JSM)
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