President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) pledged yesterday to continue to upgrade Taiwan’s relations with its Central American allies while adhering to his modus vivendi diplomatic truce with China.
Under this policy, Taiwan has engaged peacefully with China in the international arena and does not oppose unofficial economic and trade ties between its allies and China, Ma said.
“This policy has allowed us to further promote bilateral cooperation, which is mutually beneficial,” he told a delegation led by Central American Parliament president Jacinto Suarez Espinoza.
Friendship between Taiwan and Central America has been strengthening over the past seven years, with Taiwan concluding four free-trade agreements with nations in the region, he said.
While Central American imports to Taiwan have grown 1,600 percent during this period, Taiwan’s exports to Central America have doubled, he said.
Ma said he has been seeking to improve cross-strait relations since his inauguration two years ago, and 14 cross-strait agreements have since been concluded.
“This is a rare and unprecedented development over the past 60 years,” he said.
As a result of improved relations with China, Taiwan’s ties with other countries have also improved, Ma said.
The brilliant blue waters, thick foliage and bucolic atmosphere on this seemingly idyllic archipelago deep in the Pacific Ocean belie the key role it now plays in a titanic geopolitical struggle. Palau is again on the front line as China, and the US and its allies prepare their forces in an intensifying contest for control over the Asia-Pacific region. The democratic nation of just 17,000 people hosts US-controlled airstrips and soon-to-be-completed radar installations that the US military describes as “critical” to monitoring vast swathes of water and airspace. It is also a key piece of the second island chain, a string of
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Taiwan will now have four additional national holidays after the Legislative Yuan passed an amendment today, which also made Labor Day a national holiday for all sectors. The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) used their majority in the Legislative Yuan to pass the amendment to the Act on Implementing Memorial Days and State Holidays (紀念日及節日實施辦法), which the parties jointly proposed, in its third and final reading today. The legislature passed the bill to amend the act, which is currently enforced administratively, raising it to the legal level. The new legislation recognizes Confucius’ birthday on Sept. 28, the
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