Ma underlined the major principles at a dinner meeting he hosted for incumbent and former foreign ministers as well as several senior officials at the Taipei Guest House yesterday.

The president reiterated that his first state visit next week to Paraguay and the Dominican Republic will be intended not only to cement bilateral ties with Taiwan's allies but also to rebuild mutual trust with countries that do not have formal relations with Taipei.

"We want everybody to know that we will not use the stopovers (in the United States) on the journey to do anything that conflicts with the purpose of transit stops," Ma said.

"We also hope that such efforts will be fully understood and to help dispel some of the distrust (between Taiwan and the U.S.) that has resulted in the past eight years," he said.

Ma is scheduled to stop over on the U.S. west coast on his way to and from Latin America during his Aug. 12-19 trip.

"The spirit of viable diplomacy is very much in line with the 'pragmatic diplomacy' promoted by former foreign ministers in the past, Ma explained.

"That is how to use the strength we have -- hard power and soft power -- to cement ties with allies and expand cooperation with other countries," he said.

The strategy's goals, the president said, are to safeguard the rights of the Republic of China while consolidating diplomatic relations with allies and restoring mutual trust with countries that heavily influence Taiwan despite the absence of formal diplomatic ties.

Those concepts will be tested during his trip to Latin America, where he is scheduled to attend the inauguration of Paraguayan President-elect Fernando Lugo on Aug. 15, and the inauguration of Dominican President-elect Leonel Fernandez Aug. 16.

Lugo hinted during his election campaign that he was considering breaking ties with Taipei to recognize Beijing.

Stressing that bilateral relations between Taiwan and China play a vital part in the island's overall international ties, Ma said that the significantly improved and stable relations between Taipei and Beijing since he took office on May 20 have also contributed to a better relationship with the U.S.

"I'm pleased to see that U.S. President Bush expressed his satisfaction two days ago regarding current relations on both sides of the Taiwan Strait," he said.

In an interview Friday in Washington with China's People's Daily and the Central China Television network on the eve of his trip to Beijing to attend the opening of the 2008 Olympic Games, Bush said that relations between Taiwan and China are currently "in a better place."

Since Ma's inauguration, frosty cross-strait relations have significantly thawed, with Taiwan easing restrictions on commercial exchanges, opening weekend cross-strait charter flights for passengers, and allowing more Chinese tourists.

President Ma also explained to the ministers that the new steps taken by both sides were designed to achieve the mutual goals of peace and prosperity.

Easing the curbs on economic interchanges with China were not intended to encourage Taiwan-based enterprises to increase investments in China but to improve the overall business and investment environment in Taiwan so that more companies with operations overseas will have greater interest of boosting investments in Taiwan as well.

He also said the peaceful settlement of an incident in which a recreational angling Taiwan boat sunk by a Japanese frigate off the disputed Tiaoyutai Islands area in June was living proof for improved mutual trust between Taipei and Tokyo for regional stability.

Ma lauded Foreign Minister Francisco H.L. Ou, for the settlement of controversies over this case.

Other officials attending the dinner meeting included Kuomintang (KMT) Honorary Chairman Lien Chan who formerly served as vice president and foreign minister, KMT Chairman Wu Poh-hsiung, and National Security Council Secretary-General Su Chi.

Former foreign ministers invited to offer their suggestions on diplomatic affairs included Fredrick Chien, Ting Mao-shih, Jason Hu, Chen Chien-jen, and Tien Hung-mao.