President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) yesterday lauded the nation’s rescue efforts in Haiti, vowing to push a foreign policy based on honesty and humanity.
Ma said his administration would send a task force to Haiti this week to assess the situation before they begin implementing a long-term reconstruction project he proposed.
The proposal will consist of four parts.
The first focus will be on public hygiene and medical assistance. The second will involve tents and prefabricated housing and the third will be vocational training and employment assistance services. Ma also proposed an adoption program in which the Taiwanese government could work with private institutions.
The reconstruction project is expected to cost US$10 million for the first year, including the US$5 million cash donation Taiwan has pledged.
Dominican President Leonel Fernandez Reyna said he would call a world leaders’ meeting on April 14 to discuss how to assist Haiti in its reconstruction projects. Ma has said Taiwan would send a representative.
Ma said that while the Republic of China (ROC) may be diplomatically isolated on the international arena, as long as the country embraces such universal values as humanity, he believed it would have a place in the world and win the respect of the international community.
Ma made the remarks when meeting members of the country’s rescue team and the “Benevolent Voyage” operation of the Ministry of National Defense at the Presidential Office yesterday.
“Benevolent Voyage,” an operation conducted using a Taiwanese Air Force C-130 cargo plane, is considered a breakthrough in the country’s military and diplomatic history as the plane was allowed to land on US soil to refill on a transportation mission to Haiti.
Ma said the success of the operation was meaningful because it showed Taiwan’s initiative in responding to international rescue efforts and that cooperation between the Taiwanese military and that of the US was as smooth as ever. The military also demonstrated the benefits of its regular training and response capabilities, he said.
Calling the rescue workers and members of the transportation mission the “true heroes” and “the light of Taiwan,” Ma said they made Taiwanese proud and increased Taiwan’s international profile.
With climate change and global warming, Ma said natural disasters are becoming increasingly destructive and a growing number of countries require large-scale assistance over a longer period of time.
“As a member of the global village, we cannot isolate ourselves from the world,” he said. “We must be ready and with the work we make, we will get help from others when we need it.”
Meanwhile, Ma said yesterday he hoped to develop a closer relationship with Australia, but emphasized that it was not aimed at establishing diplomatic ties.
“Under the ‘diplomatic truce’ policy, we will not seek to lure China’s diplomatic allies,” he said. “Instead, we want to develop closer relationships in the areas of economy, trade, culture and humanity.”
His administration will not engage in “checkbook diplomacy,” Ma said, and will conduct “honest diplomacy” because doing so would win more international respect.
Ma made the remarks while meeting John Howard, chairman of International Democratic Union and former Australian prime minister, at the Presidential Office yesterday afternoon.
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