The president stressed that over the past seven years, the positive development of ROC-US relations has been closely related to progress in cross-strait relations. He stated that since he took office in 2008, the ROC has consistently sought, under the framework of the ROC Constitution, to maintain the status quo of "no unification, no independence, and no use of force" in the Taiwan Strait, and to promote the peaceful development of cross-strait ties under the "1992 Consensus," whereby each side acknowledges the existence of "one China" but maintains its own interpretation of what that means. This has turned cross-strait ties from being irreconcilable and a vicious circle into a virtuous circle.
President Ma also remarked that the two sides of the Taiwan Strait have signed 21 agreements covering direct aviation links, trade, joint combatting of crime, medical treatment, and food safety. There were no regularly scheduled direct flights between the two sides before he took office, but currently there are 120 daily. Also, the number of discrete visits made by mainland Chinese tourists to Taiwan has exceeded 14.16 million over this period, reaching nearly four million last year alone. At the same time, the number of mainland students studying in Taiwan has increased from 823 prior to his taking office to over 32,000 now, a 40-fold increase. This has allowed young people from both sides to become acquainted with one and other from an early age and gradually build friendships, thus helping solidify a long lasting foundation for peace, the president noted. Even more important is that the heads of the agencies on either side responsible for cross-strait affairs have met a total of four times last year and this year, and referred to each other using their official titles. All of these developments indicate that cross-strait relations are the most stable and peaceful they have been in the past 66 years, said the president.
【Source: Office of the President】