President Ma Ying-jeou said on Wednesday that his recent meeting with his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping, had built a bridge that can be used to maintain the status quo across the Taiwan Strait. He was speaking at a celebration for Industry Day on Wednesday.
Ma said that the recent meeting with Xi set a path for future presidents to follow. "I pushed for the Ma-Xi meeting in the hopes that the next president, whoever he or she is, can guarantee cross-strait stability. That was the consensus I had with Mr. Xi. The bridge has been built," Ma said. "Anyone can go on that bridge as long as he or she follows the traffic rules."
Ma also said that in his meeting with his Chinese counterpart, he brought up Taiwan’s intention of joining the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP). He said that joining the TPP would require the support of the United States and member countries, it would also need for China to not block Taiwan’s entry.
"Our main goal is this sort of regional economic integration," said Ma. "At the time, Chinese leader Mr. Xi Jinping said they were willing to look into coming up with a special solution for this particular case. So we’ve already brought up the issue and hope that they will work with us."
The two leaders also discussed a cross-strait trade in goods agreement. Ma said that Xi has asked relevant agencies to promote negotiations, so the two sides have already come to somewhat of a consensus on that issue.
Ma said he still has more than six more months in office and would use the remainder of his term to stimulate the nation’s economy.