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Ma says allies may pursue economic ties with China
R-E-S-P-E-C-T:
Ma again lauded his diplomatic policies, saying they had produced ‘remarkable’ results and that Taiwan and China had finally come to respect each other
By Ko Shu-ling
STAFF REPORTER
Thursday, Sep 10, 2009, Page 3
President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) yesterday said his administration was not opposed to the country’s diplomatic allies developing economic relations with China and that both sides of the Taiwan Strait had a “tacit agreement” not to steal each other’s diplomatic allies.
Praising his “diplomatic truce” policy, Ma said it had produced “remarkable” results and that China and Taiwan have a mutual understanding that they should not woo each other’s diplomatic allies.
“We hope to extend cross-strait detente to the international community,” Ma said. “Now we [Taipei and Beijing] mutually respect each other and get along peacefully in the international community. This has never happened in the past 60 years.”
Ma said the goal of his diplomatic policy was to strengthen the government’s relationships with its diplomatic allies while at the same time improving ties with China and reducing friction with China in the international arena.
Ma said his administration would not discourage Taiwan’s allies from developing “unofficial economic relations” with China because this is a part of globalization.
Ma made the remarks while meeting Haitian Minister of Foreign Affairs Alrich Nicolas at the Presidential Office yesterday morning.
It marked Nicolas’ first trip to Taiwan since he took office last September. Ma said he believed high-level visits between the two countries were helpful to promoting bilateral cooperation projects, adding that the administration hoped to continue this relationship and share the Taiwan’s experience with economic development.
Ma thanked the Caribbean ally for assisting his administration’s “aggressive” efforts to participate in the international community. He extended his thanks to Haitian President Rene Preval’s for the latter’s concern following Typhoon Morakot, which Ma described as causing “the worst flooding, unprecedented in this century.”
As of yesterday, the number of confirmed fatalities had reached 619, with 76 listed as missing or presumed dead. The Web site of the National Disaster Prevention and Protection Commission showed that the Kaohsiung area reported 491 fatalities, followed by Pingtung with 27 and Tainan with 25.
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