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Ma compares himself to Obama

President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) yesterday drew a parallel between himself and US President Barack Obama, who recently won a Nobel Peace Prize, saying that other countries’ support for his conciliatory approach to cross-strait policy has boosted his confidence in promoting peace in the Taiwan Strait.

Ma said he felt “gratified” that Obama had received the Nobel Peace Prize and that it signified the judging committee recognized his concept of peace.

The Norwegian Nobel Committee praised Obama for “his extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples.”

The decision to hand Obama the prize stunned many and triggered a storm of criticism that the award was premature and a potential liability for him. Some critics have said that there was a risk the prize could backfire on Obama by raising expectations even higher and providing ammunition to his critics.

Ma said that since he took office in May last year, he has worked hard to reduce tension in the Taiwan Strait.

“The Taiwan Strait was originally a flashpoint, but now the peril has diminished dramatically, making the region safer than before,” he said.

The US, Japan, New Zealand and Australia, as well as countries in Southeast Asia and Europe have recognized and expressed support for the lessening cross-strait tension, he said.

This has given him more confidence in pushing for peace in the Taiwan Strait, the president said.

Ma made the remarks while meeting a US delegation led by Duane Miskulin, chairman of the American Veterans of World War II, Korea and Vietnam, at the Presidential Office yesterday morning.

As he had promised during his presidential campaign to turn the defense force into a volunteer-based army, Ma said, he planned to recruit an all-volunteer military.

The ratio of recruits to conscripts rose to 6 to 4 this year, and he hoped to see the ratio increase to 7 to 3 by next year, Ma said.

He said he hoped to establish an all-volunteer military by 2015.

The Ministry of National Defense has also mapped out a plan to reduce the size of the armed forces from 275,000 people to 210,000 by 2015, he added.

Ma said an all-volunteer military would help improve the quality of the country’s armed forces and reduce unnecessary manpower.

“We hope to build an army that is small but strong and outstanding,” he said.

Also See: Defense report lacking in vision
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