Lord Mance, President Schrijver, President Wu, President Yang, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen:
I am pleased to have been invited to the opening ceremony of the 2011 International Law Association Asia-Pacific Regional Conference. This year marks the centennial of the Republic of China on Taiwan, so I find it profoundly significant to have three academic institutions – the International Law Association, the Chinese (Taiwan) Society of International Law, and the Research Center for International Legal Studies of the College of International Affairs at National Chengchi University – jointly organizing this event at this particular time.
I come here today not just as president of the country, but also as a long-time member of the ILA. I have participated in the affairs of the Chinese (Taiwan) Society of International Law with Professor Hungdah Chiu's encouragement since 1981, when I had just returned home after completing my doctoral studies in the US. I was the Society's president for four years from 2000 to 2004. During my tenure, I attended ILA Biennial Conferences in London and Berlin in 2000 and 2004. Prior to that, as vice president of the Society, I assisted Professor Chiu, who was president of the Society, in organizing ILA's first Asia-Pacific Regional Conference in Taipei in 1995 and the Biennial Conference in Taipei in 1998. Both events went extremely well, and were spoken of very highly by experts from throughout the global community of international law.
I am deeply indebted to Lord Slynn, the late Chairman of the ILA's Executive Council, for his strong support for the Republic of China and the Chinese (Taiwan) Branch of the ILA. But it saddens me to note that another very distinguished colleague, Professor Chiu, a former ILA President and the ex-President of the Chinese (Taiwan) Society of International Law, passed away on April 12 this year. It was a grievous day for us all. I want to take this opportunity to pay tribute to Professor Chiu, whom I decorated in 2009 with the Order of Brilliant Star with Special Grand Cordon. On behalf of the ROC government, I would also like to express our profound gratitude to him for his enormous contributions over 40 years to the development of international law in the Republic of China, increased international understanding of the ROC, and the promotion of cross-strait relations. Our efforts over the past three years to improve cross-strait relations, and the achievements we have accomplished, have been welcomed by people both at home and abroad, and no doubt brought considerable satisfaction to Professor Chiu in his later years.
Since I came into office in 2008, apart from bolstering Taiwan's economy, cleaning up our government, and deepening our democracy, I have also worked to strengthen human rights protections and expand our international participation. For instance, we ratified the "International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights" and the "International Covenant on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights" in 2009, and adopted an enforcement act to incorporate both Covenants into domestic law. The enforcement act was needed because the Republic of China, having lost its representation in the United Nations in 1971, can no longer subject itself to the covenants by depositing the instruments of ratification with the UN. As a workaround, we had to adopt an act for implementation as an alternative path to achieving the goal. Just ten days ago, another United Nations covenant on human rights – the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women – also saw its enforcement act adopted here. We are also planning to integrate the existing Green Island and Jingmei Human Rights Memorial Parks into a single National Human Rights Museum. The two parks were former prisons for prisoners charged with sedition during the 38-year Martial Law period. The museum will function as a research, archive and exhibition center for historical artifacts relating to human rights violations in the past. To faithfully implement the human rights conventions, we also set up a Human Rights Consultative Committee in the Presidential Office to formulate human rights policies and publish a human rights report every year. By doing this, we hope to better implement human rights education, and to raise awareness of human rights concepts.
In 2009, the Republic of China began participating in the World Health Assembly (WHA), the annual conference of the World Health Organization (WHO), as an observer under the name"Chinese Taipei." In the same year, the Republic of China became a party to the WTO's Government Procurement Agreement (GPA). This January, the Republic of China was granted visa-exempt status by 35 countries, including the European Union member states. Today, ROC citizens enjoy visa-free entry to a total of 114 countries and territories despite the fact that we have official ties with only 23 countries. In the meantime, over the past three years, we have signed 15 agreements with mainland China, including the Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement (otherwise known as ECFA), an FTA-like trade pact. We are also negotiating an Economic Partnership Agreement with Singapore and discussing similar arrangements with other countries.
These developments reflect some important policies that we have adopted. First, we value the protection of human rights. Second, we support free trade. Third, we solidify bilateral relations with allies but also expand multilateral ties. Fourth, we improve cross-strait relations, which in turn helps improve our international relations, thus forming a virtuous cycle.
What interests everyone most is perhaps the state of cross-strait relations, and their relevance to international law and affairs. It is interesting to note that this question even finds its way into renowned law textbooks of the West. For instance, the 5th edition of International Law: Cases and Materials (2008), edited by the late Louis Henkin, an acclaimed American professor of international law, mentions the concept of"mutual non-denial," that I proposed during the 2007 presidential campaign as an approach to the handling of cross-strait relations.
I advocated the concept of"mutual non-denial" because I perceived post-1949 cross-strait relations as being essentially different from post-war Germany and Korea. The model of mutual recognition adopted by the two Germanys and the two Koreas beginning in the 1970s was inapplicable here, so we needed a new theoretical basis for cross-strait relations, which have grown quite fast over the past 20 years.
This basis is provided for in the 1991 Additional Articles of the ROC Constitution. We must first understand that the governing authority of mainland China was not established until 1949, and the Chinese mainland still falls within the"existing national boundaries" of the Republic of China as set out in the 1947 ROC Constitution. The Act Governing Relations between the People of the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area, enacted in 1992 in accordance with the 1991 Additional Articles of the ROC Constitution, defines the area where the ROC government exercises its authority to govern 【治權】as the"Taiwan Area," or"Taiwan, Penghu, Kinmen, Matsu, and any other area under the governing authority of the Government." The"Mainland Area" is the ROC territory outside the Taiwan Area. In other words, the ROC government declared as early as 1992 that it maintained constitutional sovereignty over the Mainland Area, but not the authority to govern.
Under the ROC constitutional framework, the cross-strait relationship is not one between states, but a special relationship for which the model of recognition under conventional international law is not applicable. Therefore, we cannot and do not recognize mainland China's sovereignty, nor should we or do we deny its authority to govern mainland China. To put it simply,"mutual non-recognition and mutual non-denial" means"the two sides do not recognize each other's sovereignty, nor do they deny each other's authority to govern".
I find the distinction between "sovereignty" and "authority to govern" necessary. An interesting precedent can be found in the 1972 Basis of Relations Agreement between the Federal Republic of Germany and the Democratic Republic of Germany, where the word"sovereignty" (souveranitat in German) was replaced by the word"supreme power" (hoheitsgewalt in German). As the two sides of the Taiwan Strait have overlapping sovereignty claims, with all of each side's territory included within the claims of the other, mutual recognition of sovereignty is clearly unachievable."Mutual non-denial" of one another's authority to govern, however, is a practical recognition of the status quo. Otherwise, the negotiation and signing of 15 legally binding agreements between the two sides would not have been possible. Only through"mutual non-denial" can cross-strait relations continue moving forward peacefully. Therefore, I see"mutual non-recognition and mutual non-denial" as the best interpretation of the cross-strait status quo and also the best approach to addressing realities, shelving disputes, and promoting peace.
Although international law is not directly applicable to cross-strait relations, it does at times provide useful points of reference for our consideration. The Chinese (Taiwan) Society of International Law long ago included cross-strait relations within the scope of its research because some of the principles in international law offer useful parallels that can be applied in the cross-strait context. For instance, when handling aviation safety in direct cross-strait flights, can we afford not to follow the rules and practices of the Convention on International Civil Aviation?
Based on such thinking, we handle cross-strait relations pragmatically, and the results have been positive. If you happen to have visited Taiwan three years ago and are just now returning for the first time since then, you will have noticed one remarkable difference in particular –scenic spots packed with mainland Chinese tourists. Currently, the number of direct cross-strait flights has reached 370 per week, up from almost nothing, and will further expand to 500 in the near future. The number of mainland Chinese tourists to Taiwan was 116,000 in 2000 and 1.58 million in 2010, up by a factor of 13. Mainland tourists are especially fond of a Taiwanese snack called pineapple cake. In the year prior to my presidency, total sales of pineapple cake came to 2 billion NTD (or 65 million US dollars). Last year, sales jumped by a factor of 12.5 times to 25 billion NTD (or 850 million US dollars). One maker of pineapple cakes even decided to go public. I dare say that qualifies as yet another Taiwan miracle! Since the signing of the Agreement on Joint Cross-strait Crime-fighting and Mutual Judicial Assistance in 2009, the two sides have deported hundreds of suspects across the Taiwan Strait and jointly arrested over a thousand scam operation participants. Compared to the worst year, 2006, scam cases in Taiwan last year dropped by more than 30% and the total financial losses were reduced by about 12 billion NTD (or more than 400 million US dollars). Cross-strait exchange has reduced confrontation and tension, and facilitated peace and prosperity. This is not only in the interest of the people of Taiwan and mainland China, but is also good for the rest of the world."Mutual non-recognition of sovereignty and mutual non-denial of authority to govern" has proved to be an effective approach to a uniquely complex and sensitive cross-strait relationship, a topic I hope will be further discussed by scholars at this conference.
In closing, I wish the conference every success and hope all of you can take this opportunity to learn more about the Republic of China, understand more about Taiwan, and tell your friends at home about Taiwan's success story.
Thank you.
【Source: Office of the President】