Ma vows to improve ties

The inaugural speech by re-elected Taiwan leader Ma Ying-jeou on Sunday showed his will to continue strengthening cross-Straits relations in his second four-year term, experts said.

Recapping his past four years in office, Ma said Taiwan has improved cross-Straits relations and reduced tension.

"This brought peace and prosperity and won broad public support," Ma said.

He said in the next four years, he will strive to enhance the drivers of Taiwan's economic growth by changing from a protectionist mindset and revising outdated regulations, as one of the five pillars to bolster Taiwan's competitiveness.

Moreover, he said Taiwan will explore potential areas for cooperation with the mainland while continuing to consolidate peace and prosperity and enhance trust.

"We must speedily complete follow-up talks under the Cross-Straits Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement," Ma said on Sunday morning.

Under the ECFA framework signed in 2010, a wide-ranging cross-Straits economic pact is expected to save companies on the mainland and in Taiwan a considerable amount of money in duties, according to a leading mainland representative.

Experts said Ma's "carefully worded" speech - coming at a time when his approval rating is at a historic low - illustrates his understanding of the importance of furthering cross-Straits relations.

"Ma is under great pressure to boost public confidence in his policies regarding the economy and (living standards)", said Xie Yu, deputy director of the Institute of Taiwan Studies under the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.

"He's proud of his achievements in improving cross-Straits relations, which helped him turn the situation around in the final stage of his hard-won campaign."

Ma was first sworn into the post in 2008, when he faced the troublesome legacy of the former leader Chen Shui-bian's controversial policies and the impact of the global financial crisis, experts said.

Ma then restarted talks between the mainland-based Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Straits and Taiwan's Straits Exchange Foundation in 2008 and prompted the two organizations to sign 16 bilateral agreements involving cross-Straits financial cooperation, communications, travel, and exchanges of knowledge and assistance.

During Ma's first term, Taiwan achieved its highest economic growth in 23 years.

Xie said Ma's urgent requirement to flesh out the ECFA framework reflects Taiwan's hope that the agreement will pump fuel into the local economy.

Ni Yongjie, a research fellow at the Shanghai Institute of Taiwan Studies, noted Ma's words showed he is determined to lead Taiwan to move closer to the mainland.

Though Ma said Taiwan should diversify economic cooperation with a broader range of economies, the "most fundamental solution to re-galvanize and to protect it from European debt crisis" should be looking at enhanced cross-Straits trade, Ni said.

"His conclusion on the means and methods to enhance cross-Straits relations in the past four years also foretells how he will continue doing so."

Ma said Taiwan has promoted cross-Straits ties in accordance with the principles of putting "pressing matters before less pressing ones, easily resolved issues before difficult ones, and economic matters before political ones".

He noted that this approach has yielded unprecedented success in economic and trade ties, transportation, public health, culture, education, judicial assistance and financial services.