《TAIPEI TIMES 焦點》 Ma gives forum talk about Taiwan’s role

SOFT POWER: Taiwan should be a peacemaker, become a creator of new technology and business opportunities and promote Chinese culture, Ma said at a US university

/ Staff writer, with CNA

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Former president Ma Ying-jeou （馬英九） arrived late on Friday in Chicago for a university forum in Indiana, where he has been invited to speak on Taiwan’s new role in Asia and the world.

He is to attend the University of Notre Dame’s Institute for Asia and Asian Studies second Asia Leadership Forum, scheduled to take place today.

Ma spoke about the association between cross-strait relations and US-Taiwan ties.

“The first thing I did after taking office was to seek cross-strait rapprochement before endeavoring to restore mutual trust with the higher echelons of the US government,” Ma told reporters at Chicago O’Hare International Airport.

“Our efforts have resulted in the US Department of State and other agencies repeatedly praising US-Taiwan ties as being the strongest they have been. The key is to properly manage and handle cross-strait ties,” he added.

Ma said the relationship between cross-strait ties and Taipei-Washington relations is not something he invented, but rather something that happened.

Ma was greeted at the airport by about 30 Taiwanese expatriates who braved cold winds. One showed a photograph of Ma’s visit to Chicago in his capacity as Taipei mayor 15 years ago.

Ma posed for pictures before leaving for the university campus.

Ma was today to attend a welcome tea at the university, watch an American football game in the afternoon and meet with students from Taiwan, China, Hong Kong and Macau at a seminar in the evening.

Ma said that Taiwan should play a new role in Asia and the world, adding that it should be a peacemaker and a provider of international humanitarian assistance.

Taiwan should promote cultural exchanges, become a creator of new technology and business opportunities and promote Chinese culture.

“By doing these five things, Taiwan could show its soft power,” he said.

Former Indonesian president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono was the first former leader invited to speak at the inaugural forum.

Ma’s US visit followed a trip to Malaysia to attend the World Chinese Economic Summit in Melaka on Wednesday and Thursday last weel.

Event organizers gave Ma the honorific “His Excellency” in the summit handbook and on its name tags, reportedly under pressure from Beijing.

Ma instead wore a name tag he had altered to identify him as “Former president of the Republic of China [Taiwan].”

Before his departure for the US, Ma said at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport on Friday that China need not pressure event organizers, because it is not conducive to improving cross-strait relations and only incited revulsion toward China among Taiwanese.

After his speech at the university, Ma is to travel attend a dinner with Taiwanese expatriates in Chicago.

He is to return to Taiwan on Wednesday.

新聞來源：TAIPEI TIMES