President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) returned to Taipei yesterday from a six-day visit to Latin America, which he billed as a success and evidence that his flexible foreign policy works.
Ma went to Honduras and the Dominican Republic, attending the inauguration of Honduran President Porfirio Lobo Sosa on Wednesday, with a trip to the Dominican Republic on Thursday added at the last minute so Ma could deliver relief to quake-hit Haiti and show the nation’s support for the victims.
Ma made a one-night stopover in San Francisco before heading to the Honduran capital of Tegucigalpa, and a short stopover in Los Angeles on the return trip.
During the stays in the US, Ma met US parliamentarians and local politicians to mend fences with Washington after the US beef controversy. He was greeted in San Francisco and in Los Angeles by Raymond Burghardt, chairman of the American Institute in Taiwan.
Touting his foreign policy as “feasible” and “fruitful,” Ma said on the way back to Taiwan that it aims to replace a belligerent approach with flexibility and “dollar diplomacy” with honesty.
“Over the past 20 months, the policy proves that we can not only consolidate relationships with our 23 diplomatic allies, but also have more opportunities to participate in the activities of the international community and create a better image for the country,” he said.
Taking the example of the two sides’ response to the devastating earthquake in Haiti, Ma said both Taipei and Beijing rushed to its aid, but did not engage in a diplomatic warfare.
“It is no longer a zero-sum game, but a win-win situation or better yet a win-win-win situation,” he said. “It has received much praise from the international media and I believe we should stay the course.”
Future diplomatic work will connect with such universal values as democracy and foreign aid will focus on humanitarian concerns, Ma said.
Taking the example of the trip to Honduras, Ma said the Central American ally deserved recognition for its efforts to return to the road of democracy.
Apart from agreeing to donate computers to Honduras, Ma said his administration would help build a digital opportunity center to develop sustainable information and technology education.
“We will not only give them fish, but also teach them to catch fish, sell it and eat it,” he said.
Regarding a long-term reconstruction project he proposed to help Haiti get back on its feet, Ma said he discussed with officials traveling with him in Los Angeles on how to implement it. They tentatively agreed to send a task force to Haiti before the Lunar New Year to have a better understanding of the situation there, he said.
On his return to Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport, Ma said the US beef controversy might not end soon, but he believed developments were going in a positive direction.
In addition to legal revisions to ban some beef or beef products, Ma said some are pushing for a referendum on whether the restrictions on US beef should be relaxed.
However, he did not think it would affect the import of bone-in beef, he said, adding that the first shipment of US beef has received a positive public response.
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