President Ma Ying-jeou met on the morning of June 28 with Raymond Burghardt, chairman of the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT), and W. Brent Christensen, director of the US State Department's Office of Taiwan Coordination. The president and the visitors exchanged opinions on a broad range of issues of mutual interest, including Taiwan-US relations and the situation between the two sides of the Taiwan Strait.
President Ma commented that Chairman Burghardt visited Taiwan in November of last year at the invitation of the American Chamber of Commerce in Taipei. In January of this year, he made another trip here as a representative of the US administration to deliver a briefing on the visit to the United States by mainland Chinese leader Hu Jintao. The president said that he has made 10 transit stops in the United States since taking office in 2008 and Chairman Burghardt has personally welcomed him at the airport on eight of those occasions. Most recently, Vice President Vincent C. Siew served as his envoy in attending celebrations in Paraguay marking the 200th anniversary of Paraguayan independence, and Chairman Burghardt personally welcomed the vice president during his transit stops in Los Angeles and New York.
The president stated that since he took office, the ROC and the United States have re-established mutual trust at the highest levels, and relations between the two sides have been on an even keel. He particularly noted that US President Barack Obama publicly welcomed the signing of the cross-strait Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement. Moreover, Taiwan and mainland China are currently negotiating agreements on investment guarantees, a dispute settlement mechanism, and nuclear safety. He also noted that free independent travel for mainland Chinese tourists began today, and the number of weekly cross-strait flights is gradually being increased from 370 to 558, which points to stable development of relations between the two sides of the Taiwan Strait, he said.
With respect to internal documents in the World Health Organization that refer to this nation as "Taiwan, China," the president pointed out that US Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius convened a press conference during the World Health Assembly and stated that no United Nations-affiliated organization can unilaterally decide the status of Taiwan. President Ma thanked the United States for its stance on this issue and said he hopes that the United States will continue to exert its influence to support Taiwan's participation in the International Civil Aviation Organization.
Turning to the issue of American arms sales to Taiwan, President Ma stressed that the United States approved aggregate sales of US$13 billion of arms to Taiwan in October 2008 and January 2010. He said he hopes that the United States will soon agree to upgrade the ROC's existing fleet of F-16A/B fighter jets and sell the ROC F-16C/D fighters to replace its aging F-5 fighters. In addition, the president said he hopes that there will soon be concrete follow-up on the decision previously made by the United States to sell Taiwan diesel-electric submarines. President Ma said that Taiwan has already filed formal requests to acquire certain items, and the United States is still considering some of the arms requested. As mainland China continues to increase its defense capabilities, military balance in the Taiwan Strait is even more important, he explained, adding that the military hardware that Taiwan seeks to purchase adheres to the Taiwan Relations Act, which requires that it be defensive in nature, that Taiwan be unable to produce the items on its own, and that it be for the purpose of replacing aging equipment.
The president then called for the US to include Taiwan in its Visa-Waiver Program as soon as possible, noting that Taiwan has already met US preconditions by lowering the rejection rate for applications by ROC nationals seeking US visas to less than 3%, and by requiring ROC nationals applying for passports for the first time to do so in person (starting from July 1). President Ma also addressed negotiations between the two countries under the Trade and Investment Framework Agreement (TIFA), saying that negotiations have been put on hold due to issues associated with the import of US beef to Taiwan. The president explained that imports of American beef have continued over the past five months. While imports decreased 15% in the January-to-May period in comparison with the same period last year, imports in May increased versus April. This shows that Taiwan consumers quite like American beef, he stated, adding that the government has already established an ad hoc committee, held a number of public hearings, and will continue to engage in public dialog on the risks of beef containing ractopamine. He said he hopes that consensus on the issue can be reached, and that talks under the TIFA can resume as soon as possible.
The visitors were accompanied to the Presidential Office in the morning by Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs Ssu-Tsun Shen (沈斯淳) to meet with President Ma. Also attending the meeting was National Security Council Deputy Secretary-General Chih-kung Liu (劉志攻).
【Source: Office of the President】