President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) yesterday lauded his cross-strait policy, saying cross-strait rapprochement had not only brought a glimmer of hope in the Taiwan Strait, but also simplified security relations between Taipei and Washington.
Ma said it was encouraging to see mutual trust restored between Taipei and Washington over the past year, adding that it was mainly a result of improved cross-strait ties.
“The cross-strait detente has not only brought a glimmer of hope for peace in the Taiwan Strait, but also made US-Taiwan security relations comparatively simpler and easier,” he said.
Ma made the remarks while meeting Phil Gingrey, co-chair of the US Congressional Taiwan Caucus, at the Presidential Office yesterday morning.
Ma thanked Gingrey for incorporating the remarks Ma made at an international conference into the congressional record. The conference was held in Taipei on April 12 in commemoration of the 30th anniversary of the Taiwan Relations Act (TRA).
Ma also thanked other US representatives for their support of the TRA. They included Shelley Berkley, a Democrat from Nevada, and Lincoln Diaz-Balart, a Republican from Florida, who backed the House Concurrent Resolution 55.
The resolution, which was passed unanimously by the US House of Representatives on the 30th anniversary of the TRA in March, reaffirms Washington's commitment to the act as the cornerstone of relations between the US and Taiwan. It also declares US support for Taiwan's democratic institutions and its policy to provide Taiwan with “arms of a defensive nature to maintain the capacity to resist any resort to force or other forms of coercion that would jeopardize the security, or the social or economic system, of the people on Taiwan.”
Ma said that many friends from the US had recognized his cross-strait policy, saying they thought it had considerably reduced tensions across the Taiwan Strait, restored regional stability and provided relief to the regional deployment of many countries, including the US, Japan, New Zealand, Australia, the EU countries and the Southeast Asian countries.
“In other words, improved cross-strait relations benefit everyone,” he said.
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