Ma touts foreign policy before trip

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.

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