Cross-strait detente looks 'pretty amazing': Clinton

He also described the economic cooperation framework agreement (ECFA) signed between Taiwan and China as a “positive thing,” during a question-and-answer session after a 40-minute speech delivered in Taipei.

Clinton said that when the “one-China policy” governing Washington's relations with Beijing on the Taiwan issue was created in 1979, “the basic idea was that you should be able to chart your own course, find your own way to your relationship with mainland China.”

“It appears to me that's what you are doing. And what we tried to do is make it possible for you to do that and make it possible for them to do that. And I still think it's the best way to do it,” he said.

The idea that the current staggering success experienced by both countries could be adversely affected by passing politics is “almost inconceivable,” he believed.

On the recent trade deal between the two countries, Clinton acknowledged that he had not read the details of the agreement but said, “as someone who wishes you well and China well, this strikes me as positive thing.”

If things go sour, he said, then Taiwan should take appropriate action to do what it had to do.

“I think it is important for every country to maintain and, whenever possible, to increase its economic diversity and its diversity in business partners,” he added.

“It looks like a way of aligning what's been going on underneath the surface for a very long time with the public agreement in a way that will permit the acceleration of growth in investment in a way that will be beneficial to you and to them,” he said.

Citing the Middle East crisis and the conflict between Israel and Palestine, Clinton encouraged Taiwan to continue its effort to foster peace in the region.

“You just need to keep the show on the road because to the rest of the world, this is pretty amazing and we need model of success that works,” he said.

The former U.S. president also toured the National Palace Museum (NPM) on the second day of his Taiwan trip and was pleased to return there after his first visit 25 years ago, the museum said.

Clinton first visited the world-renowned NPM in 1985, when he spent more than four hours looking at the various exhibits, the museum said.

This time, Clinton brought a group of friends with him “to introduce to them the beauty of Chinese culture,” the NPM said.

The group spent roughly one hour looking at the “Dynastic Renaissance: Art and Culture of the Southern Song” special exhibit and at the NPM's most treasured pieces — the Jadeite Cabbage and the Meat-shaped Stone from the Qing Dynasty.

The group was accompanied by museum director Chou Kung-shin who invited Clinton to tour the museum again next time he is in Taiwan.

The NPM gave Clinton a gift of an olive-shaped famille rose vase.

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