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President Ma gratified at U.S. praise for ECFA

ROC Central News Agency

2011/01/20 14:16:04

By Garfie Li and Y.F. Low

Taipei, Jan. 20 (CNA) President Ma Ying-jeou on Thursday expressed gratification at Washington's praise for the landmark trade agreement signed last June between Taiwan and China, saying it was an indication that the deal had been well-received internationally.

During his latest talks with Chinese President Hu Jintao at the White House Wednesday, U.S. President Barack Obama "applauded the Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement (ECFA) between the two sides of the Taiwan Strait and welcomed the new lines of communications developing between them, " according a joint statement released after the meeting.

Obama's mention of the ECFA came on the heels of a similar comment last week by U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton in a speech on U.S. relations with China.

According to Presidential Office spokesman Lo Chih-chiang, the good responses that the ECFA has received in the international community demonstrate that "true gold withstands the test of fire."

Before this, famed business strategists Kenichi Ohmae of Japan and Michael Porter of the United States as well as Nobel Prize-winning economist Oliver Williamson and Harvard University professor Joseph Nye had all said that the ECFA would bring more benefits than disadvantages to Taiwan and described the agreement as a vitamin for Taiwan's economy, Lo pointed out.

This disproved claims by opposition politicians that the ECFA would bring disaster to Taiwan, Lo said.

Also in the U.S.-China joint statement, Washington said it supports the peaceful development of relations across the Taiwan Strait and looks forward to efforts by both sides to increase dialogues and interactions in economic, political, and other fields and to develop more positive and stable cross-strait relations.

Meanwhile, in a news conference held after his meeting with Hu, Obama said the progress made on Taiwan and China in reducing tensions and building economic ties is in the interest of both sides, the region and the United States.

He also reaffirmed Washington's commitment to a one-China policy based on the three U.S.-China communiques and the Taiwan Relations Act.

In response, Premier Wu Den-yih expressed his appreciation for the U.S.' firm commitment to Taiwan.

Since President Ma's inauguration in 2008, he has been working to improve relations with China, based on the interests of Taiwan and its people, while consolidating Taiwan's friendship with other democracies, Wu said.

Taiwan will continue to follow such an approach in promoting cross-strait and foreign relations in the future, he added.