President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) yesterday said an economic cooperation framework agreement (ECFA) his administration intends to sign with Beijing would bring “deeper, greater and longer” peace in the Taiwan Strait.
Ma said he believed signing a free-trade agreement (FTA) was the best way to defuse hostilities because closer economic relations between the two sides would make armed conflict increasingly costly.
“We will not put all our eggs in one basket,” he said. “When there is no conflict across the Taiwan Strait, we will be safer and receive more respect from the international community,” he said.
Ma made the remarks while attending the 98th birthday celebration of veteran diplomat Chao Chin-yung (趙金鏞) at Taipei Guest House yesterday morning.
‘UNORTHODOX DIPLOMACY’
Ma said he would take a Taiwan-centered approach and do everything that is beneficial to the people.
Ma also boasted about his foreign policy, saying the course he set was the proper one and that such “unorthodox diplomacy” had created more opportunities for the country and conformed to the national interest.
Ma said that since he came into office in May 2008, he has endeavored to ease tensions in the Taiwan Strait, fostered cross-strait detente and helped improve Taiwan’s international relations.
COUNTRY SEE, COUNTRY DO
The logic was simple, he said, because “if non-allied countries see the mainland is willing to improve ties with us, they will not be so afraid to improve their relationship with us.”
“Some say the policy is like asking the devil to write a prescription because they [China] are the source of the problem, so why do we want to ask them to resolve our problem?” he said. “My theory is that we must address the problem from the root.”
Describing his foreign policy as “unorthodox,” Ma said he liked to see more “honest” diplomacy in which foreign aid adheres to three principles: The reason must be valid, the process must be legal and the implementation must be effective.
RESPECT, DIGNITY
By doing so, Ma said that the country’s diplomats could hold their heads high and would receive more respect from the international community.
“Many ambassadors posted in countries we have diplomatic relations with have told me they feel a great sense of dignity in those countries,” he said. “They have more say in many matters and they can say ‘no’ when necessary.”
Ma said that to improve the country’s status in the international community, he wanted the country to act as “a responsible stakeholder and a peacemaker, not a troublemaker, and a provider of humanitarian assistance.”
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