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進入《TAIPEI TIMES 焦點》 Ma offers to mediate in Haiti, Dominican dispute
A banner signed by children at a children’s center in Santo Domingo, the Dominican Republic, is presented to President Ma Ying-jeou on Sunday. The banner reads: “The Dominican Republic baseball league expresses its solidarity with the young people of the Republic of China; for the victims of the water park explosion in Taiwan.” Photo: Wang Yu-chung, Taipei Times
/ Staff writer, with CNA
President Ma Ying-jeou （馬英九） on Sunday said that the government was willing to help the Dominican Republic and Haiti resolve their dispute over immigrants, within the scope of Taiwan’s abilities.
In response to media queries on whether he could mediate between the two neighboring Caribbean countries, Ma said he would do his best.
He said that he expects to touch on the immigration issue during bilateral talks with the leaders of Dominican Republic and Haiti, two of Taiwan’s allies, during his visit to Latin America and the Caribbean.
Ma said he hoped he could help the two countries solve the problem “within the scope of our abilities.”
Ma left Taipei on Saturday on an eight-day visit to the two Caribbean countries and Nicaragua. He arrived in Santo Domingo on Sunday after a stopover in Boston, Massachusetts.
A Taiwanese diplomat based in the Dominican Republic said there are more than 2 million Haitians living in the Dominican Republic, including more than 200,000 who are there illegally.
A recent court ruling threatens to strip the citizenship of people of Haitian descent who were born in the Dominican Republic.
Officials from the two neighboring countries met early this month to try to diffuse rising tensions over the dispute, said the Taiwanese diplomat, who asked not to be named.
Ma on Sunday also visited a children’s center in Santo Domingo and presented baseball gear to young players in a Dominican Republic baseball league, on behalf of the Taiwanese.
The children, in return, presented Ma with a banner that they and Santo Domingo officials signed to send prayers to the victims of the June 27 water park explosion in Taiwan, which killed five people and injured more than 490.
Ma was scheduled to meet with Dominican President Danilo Medina and address the Dominican Republic Congress yesterday.
He is scheduled to return to Taiwan on Saturday after a transit stop in Los Angeles.
新聞來源：TAIPEI TIMES
