Ma addresses Belize parliament, speaks on China ties, foreign aid

Ma, who appeared unfazed by the magnitude 7.1 earthquake the previous night that rattled large areas of Central America, told the parliament that he has pushed hard to improve Taiwan's relations with China since he took office a year ago.

He said that with concerted efforts from both sides, systematic cross strait dialogue has been launched, which in turn has generated consensus and various agreements benefiting the people of the two sides of the strait.

“I hope cross-Taiwan Strait business and trade relations will normalize soon, with an economic cooperation framework agreement signed by the two sides within a year,” he said.

On Taiwan's foreign aid policy, he said his administration will try to help Taiwan's diplomatic allies in a variety of aspects, including efforts to end poverty and hunger, explore human resources, fight epidemic diseases, enhance environmental protection and bolster global partnerships.

“Under our foreign aid policy, Taiwan will continue to cooperate with Belize in food safety, ending poverty, tourism, education, public health, oil exploration and telecommunications, as well as information technology,” he went on.

Noting that the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) has expressed hope that its member nations will extend aid to poor countries by an amount equal to 0.7 percent of their gross domestic product (GDP), Ma said Taiwan has also made efforts toward the OECD goal.

At a news conference held the night before at his hotel, Ma reiterated that the “diplomatic-truce policy” that he has advocated over the past year is the other side of a “modus vivendi” proposal in a bid to reach consensus across the strait even though the two sides still have very different opinions and ideas.

“It is an extension of pragmatic diplomacy,except that operational strategies have become more flexible,” he said.

He said cross-strait relations have eased increasingly and added that this is welcome because the administration, following the Constitution, has pursued a policy of maintaining the cross-strait status quo under which Taiwan will not seek unification or independence and will not foment war against China.

On Taiwan's foreign aid policy, Ma said his administration insists that aid programs must be justifiable, must be conducted according to legal process and must be executed efficiently.

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