The president then talked about the ROC's political and economic developments in recent years. He said that over the past seven years the government has strived to promote a "prosperous Taiwan, peaceful Taiwan Strait, and friendly international relations" policy, which to date has created greater space for the ROC in the international community and alleviated tension in cross-strait relations. Even more important, he said, is that the government has developed a set of strategies that can resolve problems. In other words, the ROC has 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. The president believes that the ROC understands the core of the issue and that the strategies and methods it has formulated can achieve the goal of developing cross-strait peace and prosperity.
The president specifically pointed out the results generated by an improvement in cross-strait relations. During the August 23 Artillery War of 1958 in Kinmen, over 470,000 shells fell on the island, and at that time over 100,000 ROC troops were stationed there. Today, however, the military presence has been reduced significantly and hundreds of thousands of mainland Chinese tourists have visited the island, he said.
President Ma emphasized that the improvement in cross-strait relations has also led to an enhancement of ties between the ROC and the international community. Since 2009, for instance, the ROC has attended the World Health Assembly for seven consecutive years after a hiatus of 38 years. Taiwan has thus been able to bolster its contacts with health-related agencies throughout the world, and its status in this field has been bolstered considerably, he said. Meanwhile, after an absence of 42 years, the ROC in 2013 attended an assembly of the International Civil Aviation Organization. Both of these are substantive results of the government's efforts in this regard, said the president.
President Ma believes that the success of the ROC's "viable diplomacy" policy is closely related to the improvement in cross-strait relations. He said that two days ago in Boston, Massachusetts he engaged in discussions with several renowned American academics, during which one scholar stated that smooth cross-strait relations have been constructive to the development of Taiwan-US relations.
President Ma told the overseas compatriots at the banquet that earlier in the day in an interview with the international media, one journalist asked him whether a victory by the opposition candidate in next year's presidential election would result in challenges to the ROC in pursuing its diplomatic agenda, and whether this would have an impact on the Dominican Republic. The president remarked that he responded by saying that this was the first time that he'd heard the international media express such interest in political developments in the ROC. President Ma said he believes that regardless of which party's candidate is elected, cross-strait relations won't face problems so long as the new president abides by the cross-strait policies and strategies currently promoted by his administration.
The president also commented on the ROC's achievements in international relations in recent years, particularly pointing to the number of countries and areas that provide ROC nationals with visa-free courtesies or landing visas, which has risen from 54 when he took office in 2008 to 142 now, an increase of 88. In addition to the efforts of its diplomatic personnel, the improvement in cross-strait relations has also been a major factor in advances in ROC foreign relations, so while interference by mainland China still exists in the international community, it has decreased on certain fronts, he said. In summary, the ROC's improvements in its relations with mainland China and the international community are both the result of work carried out by the government, the president stated.
【Source: Office of the President】