President Ma Ying-jeou, in the company of Vice President Vincent C. Siew, met on the morning of April 11 at the Presidential Office with the ROC delegation that will attend the 2011 Boao Forum for Asia held annually at Boao in mainland China’s Hainan Province. The president reiterated the commitment to create a "golden decade" through his "six steps to a better Taiwan," namely: strengthening the country through innovation; reviving the country by promoting culture; saving the country through environmental protection; stabilizing the country by adhering to the constitution; securing the country by providing social services; and protecting the country by promoting peace. He also urged his guests to interact with delegates from other nations and make them realize that Taiwan, like other nations, places great emphasis on "inclusive development," and is in step with international trends.
The president remarked that the theme of this year's Boao Forum is inclusive development. On the one hand, this reflects global trends, while on the other hand it exhibits the direction that mainland China is taking in its 12th Five-Year Plan (2011-2015). This concept highlights that in the course of the pursuit of economic development, countries also must attach importance to social, environmental, and educational development, he said.
President Ma stressed that growth is not necessarily equivalent to progress, pointing out that progress can only be achieved through balanced growth. This is the conceptual foundation of the "six steps to a better Taiwan" that he unveiled during an address on the second anniversary of his inauguration, with the aim of laying the groundwork for a "golden decade." With regard to "strengthening the country through innovation," the president stated that the 86-member contingent from Taiwan at this year's International Exhibition of Inventions of Geneva captured 42 gold, 34 silver, and 5 bronze medals, along with 6 special awards. The 87 winning entries were even more than last year. In addition, the age of the medal winners is trending lower, which he is delighted to see. Meanwhile, Taiwan won 31 concept design awards and product design awards at Germany's iF design awards. These statistics point to Taiwan's unique design and invention abilities, the president said, adding that the government will continue to encourage this trend.
The second step, he said is to "revive the country by promoting culture." Each year nearly 10 arts groups from Taiwan put on dazzling performances throughout the world. As for tourism, visitors come to Taiwan not only for the wonderful scenery and tasty food, but also to sense the warmth, hospitality, and sincerity of Taiwan's people, and to experience Taiwan's culture. With regard to the third step of "saving the country through environmental protection," the president commented that the Kuokuang Petrochemical project and nuclear power safety issues have attracted close public scrutiny, and noted that the Constitution and the Basic Environment Act require that economic development and environmental protection be given equal consideration. In the event that economic development has a seriously negative impact on the environment or endangers it, the protection of the environment shall prevail, he said. The president stated that the government in the future will continue to uphold this principle in formulating related policies. As for "securing the country by providing social services," the president remarked that while Taiwan has achieved rapid economic growth, it needs to examine whether individuals have shared equitably in the fruits of economic growth. In addition to reforming National Health Insurance, the government has amended the Public Assistance Act and plans to institute 12-year compulsory education, while providing tuition-free attendance at kindergartens and vocational senior high schools. These measures, he said, are aimed at caring for more people who come from underprivileged groups.
The president then addressed the topic of "protecting the country by promoting peace." He said that the government seeks to maintain a strong national defense, but will not engage in an arms race with mainland China. Even though the Taiwan Strait already has become an avenue of peace, we must not let our guard down, he remarked. The government is in the process of carrying out the Han Guang military exercise and it hopes that the public and the military will be fully prepared to achieve "resolute defense and effective deterrence." The ROC military, the president explained, may be small, but it will be a strong, specialized, and skillful armed force that can effectively maintain Taiwan's safety. Meanwhile, the government will continue to improve cross-strait relations and boost interaction. In addition, Taiwan will open its doors to mainland Chinese students to study here. The president cited statistics showing that a total of 5,600 mainland Chinese exchange students came to Taiwan last year. In September of this year, the number of mainland students here is expected to reach between 8,000 and 9,000, and the president commented that greater interaction between students from the two sides of the Taiwan Strait will foster stronger bonds and create an even greater likelihood for peace between the two sides.
President Ma stressed that significant changes have been seen in cross-strait relations over the past year. In addition to two meetings between Chiang Pin-kung (chairman of Taiwan's Straits Exchange Foundation) and Chen Yunlin (chairman of mainland China's Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Straits), the two sides have signed the Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement as well as agreements on the protection of intellectual property rights and food safety, thus ushering in the "ECFA era" in cross-strait relations this year. In the past, he remarked, Vice President Siew and Fredrick F. Chien both had headed the delegation to attend the Boao Forum and each time were mentioned positively in reports filed from the conference. Besides increasing contact with participants from other nations, their efforts have helped expand cross-strait relations, which the president said he wanted to specially recognize. He called on the delegation to this year's forum to interact closely with representatives from the various countries attending the event, so that others will understand that Taiwan's development is in sync with global trends, and that Taiwan emphasizes "inclusive development" to enhance the wellbeing of the public.
Vice President Siew stated that at present the cross-strait interaction platform is dominated by representatives from the two sides. The Boao Forum, however, presents an opportunity for the representatives of the two sides to be together with persons from the international community, which is especially significant, he said. This type of platform, the vice president commented, enables us to interact with leaders from mainland China, business leaders from the mainland, representatives from multinational companies, and high-ranking government officials from nations around the world, offering us the opportunity to establish interpersonal relationships. The vice president said he is pleased that half of the members of this year's delegation come from the financial sector.
The delegation was led to the Presidential Office in the morning by Fredrick F. Chien to meet President Ma. Also attending the meeting was National Security Council Secretary-General Hu Wei-jen.
【Source: Office of the President】