ROC President Ma Ying-jeou met with President-elect Tsai Ing-wen at Taipei Guest House March 30 in Taipei City, reaffirming bipartisan cooperation in the lead up to the latter’s May 20 inauguration.
“It is an honour to have served the people during the past eight years, fulfilling my duty entrusted by the ROC Constitution,” Ma said. “I will do my best to ensure a seamless transfer of power, setting an example for our successors to follow.”
These sentiments were echoed by Tsai, who viewed the meeting as significant in terms of democracy, responsibility and cooperation.
“With democracy as our society’s core value, we are witnessing the presidency changing party control for the third time,” she said.
“It is our common responsibility to maintain stability and establish a mechanism for government transition to proceed without a hitch. We will let people see that political leaders can rise above differences, opening up opportunities for further cooperation.”
This marks the two leaders’ first encounter after the Democratic Progressive Party chairwoman won the ROC presidential election in January. During the meeting, they exchanged opinions spanning diplomacy, energy, pension reform and issues related to the South China Sea.
According to Presidential Office Deputy Secretary-General Hsiao Hsu-tsen, Tsai thanked Ma for his efforts in consolidating relationships with the nation’s diplomatic allies, including his recent Central American tour and inviting foreign heads of state to Taiwan for her inauguration ceremony.
Hsiao said Ma and Tsai expect successful cooperation programs with diplomatic allies in fields such as medical aid, and Southeast Asian nations in vocational training, to continue paying dividends for all related parties going forward.
Presidential Office Spokesman Chen I-hsin said Ma voiced his concern about renewable energy development and its sustainability. Tsai said she appreciated the president’s opinion and added that the DPP has launched a comprehensive review of Taiwan’s energy policy.
Chen added that Tsai is keeping an open mind on the government’s South China Sea stance and will tackle the pension reform issue after taking office. She hopes to learn from the current administration’s experiences in both regards. (YHC-JSM)
