President Ma's New Year's Day Message: Deepen Exchanges in Cross-Strait Relations

President Ma's New Year's Day Message: Deepen Exchanges in Cross-Strait Relations     
Source: All Taipei Newspapers
 

Jan. 02, 2013

President Ma Ying-jeou gave his annual New Year's Day message on January 1, 2013. Ma stated that he hoped to cooperate with the new leader of the Mainland's Chinese Communist Party (CCP), Mr. Xi Jinping, in continuing to promote peaceful development across the Taiwan Strait on the basis of the "1992 Consensus," whereby each side acknowledges the existence of "one China" but maintains its own interpretation of what that means. This was the first time that President Ma publicly addressed Xi Jinping since Xi took over leadership of the Chinese Communist Party.   
 
President Ma stated, "The people of the two sides of the Taiwan Strait are all Chinese in ethnicity. We are all descended from the ancient Emperors Yan and Huang. Therefore, the leaders of the two sides should always make the long-term peace across the Taiwan Strait a top priority. Promoting increased institutionalization of cross-Strait ties fosters deeper understanding between our people and consolidates cross-Strait peace."

President Ma pointed out that his administration intended to accelerate the pace of follow-up negotiations under the Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement (ECFA) in order to expand and deepen all aspects of cross-Strait ties. Moreover, the government would seek to further relax restrictions on investments from Mainland China, and will further open the borders to Mainland students and independent travelers. Therefore, the government would soon begin a comprehensive review of the "Statute Governing Relations between People across the Taiwan Strait" and amend it to eliminate certain out-of-date restrictions and discriminatory provisions.

In addition, President Ma stated that we would promote the establishment of offices on each side of the Strait on a reciprocal basis so as to better serve the needs of the several million people who travel across the Taiwan Strait each year. This will also lay a stronger foundation for the institutionalization of peaceful cross-Strait ties. Cross-Strait peace is one of the keys to peace in the Asia-Pacific region, and a prerequisite for economic development and increased willingness to invest, Ma stated, adding that the past four-and-a-half years have shown that improving cross-Strait relations and gaining expanded room for maneuvering in the international community go hand-in-hand. Ma went on to say that in the future, the ROC would continue to play a constructive role in the promotion of peace and prosperity in East Asia.

President Ma also reiterated the East China Sea Peace Initiative, urging all parties to shelve disputes over sovereignty and promote the joint exploration of resources, thereby making the East China Sea a sea of peace and cooperation. Moreover, Ma added, the fishery negotiations currently underway between the ROC and Japan represented an important first step. As Mainland China, Japan, and South Korea had elected new leaders recently, President Ma expressed his hopes of working with these new leaders, so as to ease tensions and make economic cooperation again be the main focus of relations in East Asia.
 

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