President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) yesterday detailed what he referred to as “three lines of defense” for the nation, the first being institutionalized relations with China.
The other two were the country’s soft power and international support for Taiwan, he said.
Speaking at a Ministry of Defense promotion ceremony, Ma said that since his inauguration in 2008, he has been working to improve cross-strait relations and has reached 15 agreements and one consensus with China during the past three years.
Photo: CNA
Ma said his efforts are aimed at institutionalizing relations between the two sides of the Taiwan Strait, which will help stop either party from taking unilateral action to change the “status quo” or using non-peaceful means to resolve cross-strait disputes.
“They will hesitate to make a move because of the high stakes involved. This is exactly what Sun Tzu (孫子) discussed in his classic The Art of War (孫子兵法); ‘the highest form of generalship is to balk the enemy’s plan,’” he said.
Ma said the nation needs to combine its economic power with diplomacy to demonstrate to the world Taiwan’s national strength and soft power.
During the past three years, Taiwan has participated in many international humanitarian aid projects in countries that have been hit by natural disasters, he said. These relief efforts include the March 11 earthquake and tsunami in Japan, which prompted Taiwanese to donate about NT$6 billion (US$210 million), he added.
Finally, Ma said the nation should seek to obtain as much international support as possible for maintaining its security.
Though Taiwan maintains diplomatic relations with only 23 countries, Taiwanese can now visit 114 countries or areas visa-free or with landing visas, which was an unprecedented achievement, Ma said.
He also emphasized the importance of armed forces to maintain a crucial deterrent to China’s military threat.
He discussed related issues while receiving a group of foreign experts who were in Taiwan to attend this year’s International Law Association Asia-Pacific Regional Conference.
Ma said that most problems Taiwan has encountered internationally stem from cross-strait confrontation. Taiwan’s efforts to ease cross-strait tensions have helped expand the country’s participation in international organizations.
In a further effort to resolve the cross-strait deadlock, Ma added, he has proposed that the two sides of the Strait deal with each other based on the principles of “mutual non-recognition of each other’s sovereignty and mutual non-denial of each other’s jurisdiction.”
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