[Congressional Record Volume 160, Number 58 (Wednesday, April 9, 2014)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E561-E563]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 TAIWAN RELATIONS ACT AFFIRMATION AND NAVAL VESSEL TRANSFER ACT OF 2014

                                 ______
                                 

                               speech of

                         HON. MARIO DIAZ-BALART

                               of florida

                    in the house of representatives

                         Monday, April 7, 2014

  Mr. DIAZ-BALART. Mr. Speaker, this morning, I had the honor of taking 
part in a video conference with President of Taiwan, Mr. Ma Ying-jeou, 
at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. President Ma 
offered his insights on the U.S.-Taiwan bilateral relationship, 
especially timely given the 35th anniversary of the Taiwan Relations 
Act. President Ma's speech follows below:


                             Opening Remarks

        I would first like to extend my appreciation to the Center 
     for Strategic and International Studies for organizing this 
     videoconference for the third time. I believe this is the 
     second time Dr. Hamre has hosted this event, and I want to 
     thank him wholeheartedly. On the eve of the 35th anniversary 
     of the enactment of the Taiwan Relations Act (TRA), a 
     landmark piece of legislation that has laid the cornerstone 
     of the robust relationship between the Republic of China and 
     the United States, I am especially pleased to have this 
     opportunity to discuss the unique partnership between our two 
     countries with such a distinguished audience.


                  A Strong and Long-standing Friendship

       The friendship between the Republic of China and the U.S. 
     dates back over one century. It all began with a desire for 
     mutual understanding. The Boxer Indemnity Scholarship Program 
     was established by the U.S. in 1909 with an endowment of 10.8 
     million U.S. dollars. The scholarship allowed Chinese 
     students to study in the U.S., and in 1911 helped establish 
     the forerunner of the prestigious National Tsing Hua 
     University, which has educated generations of young talent in 
     mainland China and Taiwan, including three Nobel laureates. 
     My hat is off to my American friends for having the foresight 
     to initiate such a beneficial scholarship program. The idea 
     behind it was the American vision to provide educational 
     opportunities for a vast but poor and backward Asian country 
     surrounded by insatiable imperialist powers.
       During the first half-century of our partnership, the 
     United States played a vital role in ensuring the Republic of 
     China's survival and development. In August 1941, for 
     instance, four months before the Pearl Harbor attack, the 
     U.S. dispatched the Flying Tigers to help in China's 
     difficult war against Japan. They shot down more than 200 
     Japanese military aircraft during the first seven months 
     after their arrival in China.

[[Page E562]]

        In January 1943, the U.S. abrogated the 100-year old 
     unequal treaty system, with its extraterritoriality and 
     consular jurisdiction, and signed the Sino-American New Equal 
     Treaty with us in Washington, a signal that the U.S. sought a 
     truly equitable partnership with the Republic of China.
        On December 1st, 1943, the United States, United Kingdom, 
     and Republic of China issued the historic Cairo Declaration, 
     in which they demanded that Japan restore all territories 
     stolen from the Chinese, such as Manchuria, Taiwan, and the 
     Pescadores, to the Republic of China. This position was 
     reconfirmed in the Potsdam Proclamation on July 26th, 1945 
     and realized 38 days later with the signing of the Japanese 
     Instrument of Surrender on September 2nd. We truly appreciate 
     America's vital military and diplomatic role during this 
     period in helping the Republic of China recover sovereignty 
     over Taiwan.
       From 1950 to 1965, the U.S. provided Taiwan with 1.5 
     billion U.S. dollars in economic aid. Our two countries 
     signed a Mutual Defense Treaty in 1954 under which the U.S. 
     guaranteed our security. This provided a peaceful external 
     environment that enabled Taiwan to create an economic 
     miracle. Since then, the U.S. has stood by Taiwan through 
     thick and thin.


              35th Anniversary of the Taiwan Relations Act

       Relations between the ROC and U.S. changed drastically in 
     1978, a year that I look back upon with profound regret. In 
     December that year, President Jimmy Carter decided to switch 
     diplomatic recognition from Taipei to Beijing. To remedy the 
     situation, the Carter administration submitted a draft 
     version of the TRA to the Congress. But because of the 
     inadequacies of the draft, Congress made many crucial 
     improvements. On April 10th, President Carter signed the bill 
     into law, and made it retroactively effective from January 
     1st, 1979. The TRA, according to an American scholar at the 
     time, re-recognized Taiwan after it had been de-recognized by 
     the Carter administration.
       I was glad to learn that just two days ago, the U.S. House 
     of Representatives unanimously passed a bill reaffirming the 
     unwavering commitment of the U.S. to the TRA. The TRA 
     provides the legal framework for many agreements signed 
     between Taiwan and U.S., including a potential bilateral 
     investment agreement. With solid bipartisan support in the 
     U.S. Congress, our two countries have maintained strong 
     political, security, economic, and cultural ties that have 
     helped ensure and enhance peace and stability in East Asia. 
     Another U.S. commitment was the Reagan administration's Six 
     Assurances to Taiwan in July 1982, in which the U.S. 
     reiterated its continued commitment to Taiwan's security.
       When I took office in May 2008, I made it my top priority 
     to improve Taiwan's relationship with the U.S. by restoring 
     high-level mutual trust, which was nearly nonexistent at the 
     time. Today, ROC-U.S. relations are the strongest they've 
     been in 35 years or more. With U.S. support, Taiwan has been 
     able to improve cross-strait relations and confidently engage 
     Beijing from a position of strength.
        Continued American backing, under the mandate of the TRA, 
     for Taiwan's meaningful participation in international 
     organizations is another present-day example of U.S. support 
     for our foreign policy goals. In May 2009, the ROC health 
     minister attended the World Health Assembly in Geneva after 
     an absence of 38 years. In September last year, the Director-
     General of our Civil Aeronautics Administration was invited 
     as a guest of the President of the Council of the 
     International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) to attend 
     ICAO's 38th Assembly in Montreal, Canada, after an absence of 
     42 years. These were major steps forward in our efforts to 
     achieve more international participation.


           The ROC: A Peacemaker and Humanitarian Aid Provider

       Using what I call the policy of ``viable diplomacy,'' we 
     have expanded Taiwan's international space, and strengthened 
     relations with our allies and neighbors. Taiwan contributes 
     to regional peace, prosperity, and stability through timely 
     and concrete actions.
       As many of you know, Taiwan, mainland China, and Japan all 
     claim sovereignty over a group of small islets in the East 
     China Sea known as the Diaoyutai Islands. These islands are 
     uninhabited, but are located near rich fishing grounds, 
     undersea hydrocarbon deposits, and some of the world's 
     busiest shipping lanes.
       In recent years, the danger of confrontation over the 
     Diaoyutai Islands has grown tremendously. That is why I 
     proposed the East China Sea Peace Initiative in August 2012. 
     I wanted to demonstrate that a different path and a more 
     hopeful outcome are possible. This initiative elevates 
     peaceful negotiation over confrontation. It de-emphasizes the 
     territorial nature of the dispute and focuses on resource 
     sharing and cooperation.
       On April 10th last year, exactly a year ago tomorrow, we 
     signed the Taiwan-Japan Fisheries Agreement. There had been 
     16 rounds of fruitless negotiations in the previous 16 years, 
     but we were able to get it done in the 17th round. We 
     achieved success by proceeding on the basis that ``while 
     sovereignty cannot be compromised, resources may be shared.'' 
     The agreement allows fishing boats from both countries to 
     operate, for the first time in more than 40 years, in 
     disputed waters twice the size of Taiwan near the Diaoyutai 
     Islands. Meanwhile, the territorial claims of both sides 
     remain intact thanks to the inclusion of a ``without 
     prejudice'' clause. The agreement embraces the spirit of the 
     East China Sea Peace Initiative, and has won wide support 
     within Taiwan and Japan, from the U.S., and in the 
     international community in general.
       We also acted in line with the East China Sea Peace 
     Initiative to resolve a dispute with the Philippines after 
     the Philippine Coast Guard shot a Taiwan fisherman dead in 
     May last year. After months of intense negotiations, the 
     Philippine government made an official apology, provided 
     compensation for the victim's family. The perpetrators were 
     charged with homicide by the Philippine Department of Justice 
     last month. In addition, the two sides agreed to refrain from 
     the use of force in law enforcement actions, to notify the 
     other side before taking any enforcement action, and to 
     promptly release detained fishing vessels and crew in case of 
     arrest.
        Then, in November last year, when the Philippines was hard 
     hit by Typhoon Haiyan--known there as Typhoon Yolanda--
     causing more than 6,000 deaths, we immediately delivered 680 
     tons of relief supplies to the devastated area on 18 air 
     force cargo flights and one naval vessel. The donations were 
     worth 12 million U.S. dollars.
        After the Japanese earthquake in March 2011, which took 
     more than 18,000 lives, my government immediately announced a 
     donation of 3.3 million U.S. dollars to assist in the rescue 
     effort. In the following two months, the people of Taiwan 
     donated around 230 million U.S. dollars. This was the single 
     largest amount of foreign assistance ever donated by the 
     people of Taiwan. In fact, it exceeded the sum total of 
     donations provided to Japan by 93 other countries that 
     provided assistance. I would add that my wife and I also 
     played a small part when we joined a telethon to solicit 
     donations.
       These measures reflect our determination to be a peacemaker 
     and a provider of humanitarian aid in the international 
     community.
        To forestall the possibility of military conflict over the 
     East China Sea Air Defense Identification Zone, I issued the 
     Statement on East China Sea Air Space Security on February 26 
     this year. In this statement, I proposed that all parties 
     concerned should seek to resolve disputes by peaceful means 
     pursuant to international law and the East China Sea Peace 
     Initiative. I also proposed that the parties should formulate 
     an East China Sea Code of Conduct and set up a multilateral 
     negotiation mechanism.
        I was pleased to learn of the testimony given by U.S. 
     Assistant Secretary of State Daniel Russel on February 5 this 
     year before the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Asia 
     and the Pacific. He mentioned that the principles of the East 
     China Sea Peace Initiative ``are at the heart of the U.S. 
     strategy and the U.S. effort, namely respect for 
     international law and peaceful resolution of disputes.'' In 
     fact, the spirit of the East China Sea Peace Initiative could 
     also apply to the South China Sea.


                        A Peaceful Taiwan Strait

        Now, let us turn to cross-strait relations. Since I took 
     office in 2008, I have pursued a cross-strait policy of 
     maintaining the political status quo. This means ``no 
     unification, no independence, and no use of force'' under the 
     framework of the ROC Constitution. It also means maintaining 
     peaceful cross-strait relations on the basis of the 1992 
     Consensus, namely, ``one China, respective interpretations.'' 
     And in order to ensure sustainable peace across the Taiwan 
     Strait, I have also formally announced that we will not 
     pursue policies such as ``two Chinas,'' ``one China, one 
     Taiwan,'' or ``Taiwan independence.''
        Thanks to the joint efforts of both sides, cross-strait 
     relations are at their best state in over six decades. To 
     date, the two sides have completed 10 rounds of talks, signed 
     21 agreements, and plan to exchange representative offices in 
     the future. Some of the main areas covered under the 21 
     agreements include economic cooperation, transportation, 
     health, science, agriculture, and mutual judicial assistance. 
     The number of regularly scheduled direct cross-strait flights 
     has increased from zero to 118 per day. The number of 
     mainland visitors per year has gone up from 290,000 to 2.8 
     million, nearly a tenfold increase. And the number of 
     mainland students in Taiwan has jumped from 800 to 24,000, a 
     thirtyfold increase. Meanwhile, law enforcement agencies from 
     Taiwan and the mainland have cooperated to arrest nearly 
     6,000 criminal suspects. As a result, the number of scam 
     cases has been cut by 60% from its peak, and the resulting 
     financial losses to victims in Taiwan have fallen by 80% from 
     its peak. It is evident that improved cross-strait relations 
     bring tangible benefits to Taiwan.
        We'll continue to focus on similar topics. We do not 
     exclude political topics, however, if the people of Taiwan 
     support it.
        Our Mainland Affairs Minister Wang Yu-Chi visited mainland 
     China last February to meet in Nanjing with his counterpart, 
     Minister Zhang Zhijun of the Taiwan Affairs Office. This was 
     the first official meeting of its kind since the two sides 
     came under separate rule 65 years ago. This meeting 
     represented the gradual institutionalization of the cross-
     strait relationship, and was a historic milestone on the path 
     toward sustainable peace and prosperity. These developments 
     prove that viable diplomacy and cross-strait relations are 
     indeed complementary and constitute a virtuous cycle.

[[Page E563]]

        Again, I want to thank the United States for Assistant 
     Secretary Daniel Russel's recent testimony in the Senate 
     Foreign Relations Committee, where he said, and I quote, ``we 
     very much welcome and applaud the extraordinary progress that 
     has occurred in cross-strait relations under the Ma 
     administration.''


                 Enhancing ROC-U.S. Economic Relations

        Trade and investment relations between the ROC and U.S. 
     have always been close. In 2013, Taiwan was the 12th largest 
     trading partner of the U.S. for goods, with 57.7 billion U.S. 
     dollars in two-way trade. The United States is the largest 
     source of foreign direct investment in Taiwan, cumulatively 
     investing 23 billion U.S. dollars as of January 2014.
        In March last year, we resumed talks under the 1994 
     Taiwan-U.S. Trade and Investment Framework Agreement (TIFA), 
     and we just successfully concluded the 8th TIFA meetings last 
     week in Washington. I want to praise the hard work of both 
     sides and the positive outcome achieved in the meetings. I 
     hope that we can launch the negotiation of a bilateral 
     investment agreement (BIA) in the near future. A BIA would 
     serve as the beginning of a more robust and comprehensive 
     economic relationship between our two countries.
        Taiwan is an important security and economic partner of 
     the U.S., as former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton stated 
     in 2011. To further demonstrate our commitment to enhancing 
     trade and investment relations with the U.S., Taiwan sent a 
     delegation of 42 business leaders to the SelectUSA Investment 
     Summit last fall. Our delegation was the third largest among 
     over 60 participating countries. We also dispatched a high-
     level CEO delegation led by former ROC Vice President Vincent 
     Siew to the U.S. last November to promote investment in the 
     U.S. from Taiwan.


   ROC's Determination to Actively Participate in Regional Economic 
                              Integration

        To improve Taiwan's competitiveness and avoid the danger 
     of being marginalized, I began pursuing deregulation and 
     market opening immediately after taking office in 2008. The 
     lack of diplomatic ties makes it difficult for us to 
     negotiate free trade agreements (FTAs) with our major trading 
     partners. To break the isolation, we decided to start with 
     mainland China, our largest trading partner since 2003. We 
     successfully concluded the Cross-Straits Economic Cooperation 
     Framework Agreement (ECFA) in 2010. This was followed in 2011 
     by an investment agreement with Japan, our second largest 
     trading partner and investor. Last year, we signed an 
     economic cooperation agreement (ANZTEC) with New Zealand in 
     July, and an economic partnership agreement (ASTEP) with 
     Singapore in November. We are also in contact with other 
     potential partners in Asia and Europe in the hope of 
     concluding more such accords.
        In addition to bilateral trade negotiations, we must also 
     take part in regional arrangements. Taiwan has highly 
     developed markets, and shares Pacific borders with the 
     world's three largest economies--the U.S., mainland China, 
     and Japan. The ASEAN nations are also nearby. Taiwan should 
     not be excluded from the process of economic integration in 
     East Asia.
        Given that Taiwan's trade with the 12 members of the 
     Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) in 2013 came to nearly 200 
     billion U.S. dollars and accounted for 34% of Taiwan's total 
     external trade, we believe Taiwan's membership in the TPP 
     would definitely be beneficial not only for Taiwan, but also 
     for all TPP member states.
        Moreover, a TPP with Taiwan's membership would not only 
     assure Taiwan's economic security, but would also help 
     strengthen the economic presence of the U.S. in the Asia-
     Pacific region. In this regard, I am pleased to acknowledge 
     the statements made by Assistant Secretary of State Daniel 
     Russel and Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Kin Moy 
     recently at Congressional hearings. At the hearings, they 
     both stated that the U.S. welcomed Taiwan's interest in the 
     TPP.
        In the meantime, Taiwan also trades heavily with the 16 
     member countries of the Regional Comprehensive Economic 
     Partnership (RCEP). In 2013, our trade volume with RCEP 
     countries came to 325 billion U.S. dollars, or about 57% of 
     Taiwan's total external trade. It is only natural that Taiwan 
     is also seeking membership in the RCEP.
        A recent effort by our government for a TPP and RCEP 
     membership is the free economic pilot zones (FEPZs). The goal 
     of the FEPZs is to establish a good environment for doing 
     business, and to pave the way for Taiwan's membership in the 
     TPP and RCEP. The American Chamber of Commerce in Taipei puts 
     out a magazine called Taiwan Business Topics that has 
     commented on our FEPZs. Allow me to quote from the magazine: 
     ``The (Taiwan) government's initiative in establishing Free 
     Economic Pilot Zones is an indication of its seriousness in 
     seeking innovative new directions for the Taiwan economy.'' 
     The new directions that the Chamber is referring to here are 
     liberalization and globalization.


                               Conclusion

        Ladies and gentlemen, Taiwan and the U.S. are determined 
     to maintain peace and stability in East Asia, and we are 
     working together to do so. If actions speak louder than 
     words, then the U.S. has certainly spoken loudly and 
     forcefully in support of our century-long partnership. We 
     continue to be grateful for America's political, economic, 
     and security support.
        And, as I have noted, with admission to the TPP and RCEP a 
     top priority for my administration, I hope, on this 35th 
     anniversary of the TRA, that the United States will join us 
     in this effort. I do believe we can approach this goal as the 
     beginning of a bright new chapter in the Taiwan-U.S. 
     partnership. The sky is the limit, so let's soar on the wings 
     of this unique partnership!
        Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for your attention. I now 
     look forward to your questions.

                          ____________________