Q: There seems to have been a domino effect in the awarding of visa-free courtesies to Taiwan, with the UK first, followed by the rest of the EU and then the US. Were these courtesies equally difficult to obtain in all three cases?

A: Our admission to the US Visa Waiver Program was connected in some degree to our obtaining visa-free courtesies in the Schengen countries early in 2011. There are 27 EU countries. Switzerland, Norway, and Iceland are not EU members, but they are parties to the Schengen Agreement. Meanwhile, Romania, Bulgaria, and Cyprus are EU members but are not parties to the Schengen Agreement. Implementation of visa-free courtesies in the EU is quite complex, and involves a lot of technical details that differ from one country to the next.

Foreign minister David Y. L. Lin explains that a lot of different cabinet agencies cooperated in the effort to get Taiwan included in the US Visa Waiver Program; but the exemplary behavior of Taiwanese people was also an important factor.

When the UK accorded us visa-free treatment in March 2009, it really set a sort of benchmark. The UK government spent two or three years studying the matter before preparing a report setting out its conclusions. The report stated that Taiwan met all the necessary conditions, and this document was provided to the EU for its reference, which had a salutary impact.

Decisions in the EU are based on consensus. There is the European Commission, which is something akin to a central government, and under the Commission there are some 50 directorates-general. The proposal to accord visa-free status to Taiwan was first put forward by the Directorate-General for Home Affairs and forwarded to the European Parliament, where it made its way through the Foreign Affairs Committee and the Internal Market and Consumer Protection Committee, and finally went to the General Assembly for a resolution. It involved two separate, parallel processes, with approval required at every step of the way.

Finally it had to be approved by the EU Council, which only meets two or three times a year. Failure to get the proposal on the Council agenda would cause a big delay, so we had to really keep on top of the process. Luckily, we successfully negotiated all the obstacles—a total of about 15 approvals were required—and completed the process in half a year. And most importantly, we’ve discovered that the benefits of visa-free status in the EU just keep expanding. A domino effect has swept through the foreign possessions of many EU countries, such as French Polynesia (including Tahiti). As a result of our breakthrough with the EU-Schengen area, over 50 more jurisdictions now accord us visa-free courtesies than before that breakthrough. This covers almost all of Europe, and almost certainly had an impact on thinking in the US. Since the world’s other developed nations were all granting Taiwan visa-free treatment, and since Taiwan-US relations are so close, then why shouldn’t the US follow suit? It became a simple matter of time.

Visa-free status for Taiwan took effect in the EU on January 11 2011, while we gained the same status in the US on November 1 2012. This has been a milestone diplomatic accomplishment.

Q: The White House spokesman has stated that Taiwan’s inclusion did not require any kind of a special communication or interaction with Beijing. How much would you say that cross-strait rapprochement and President Ma’s “viable diplomacy” policy contributed to this breakthrough?

A: The policy of viable diplomacy is very important, and has been key to our ability to achieve progress in our external relations.

Cross-strait rapprochement has meant that the two sides no longer engage in conflict in international venues. Some have mistakenly interpreted this to be a diplomatic truce, but that is not the case. Diplomatic work must still be vigorously pursued. To pursue viable diplomacy means to be flexible and pragmatic. Over the past few years, we’ve upgraded our ties with the US, Japan, Europe, and Southeast Asia. And we’ve won increased opportunities to take part in the activities of international organizations. For the past four straight years, our minister of health has attended the World Health Assembly. And the US, ­Belgium, and Paraguay have all expressed support for our effort to join the International Civil Aviation Organization.

Relations between any two countries are multifaceted, and include economic and trade ties, education, tourism, and more. Our president is very concerned about staying in close touch with the people, and has been stepping up efforts to push initiatives that will directly improve everyday lives. In addition to visa-free courtesies, we’ve also been seeking to sign youth working holiday agreements with more countries.

More than 10,000 young people from Taiwan go to Australia every year on working holidays. Australia has become the most popular working holiday destination because it’s not so far away. Working holiday visas are limited by quotas, however, and they get snapped up quickly there, as they do also in English-speaking New Zealand and the UK. Belgium and France will be signing working holiday agreements with us soon, so you can see that we’re benefiting in many different ways from our visa-free status.

Q: Now that Taiwan has been admitted to the US Visa Waiver Program, a lot of people are very anxious to know when talks between Taiwan and the US on a Trade and Investment Framework Agreement will be resumed.

A: We’re already making preparations. Visa-free status is definitely going to spur increased economic and trade activity. For example, before we got visa-free status, a Taiwanese businessperson based in mainland China wanting to make a business trip to the US first had to come back to Taiwan to apply for a visa. It took several days, during which time a business opportunity might be lost.

Now, 98% of the countries that our people travel to accord us visa-free courtesies, and we’ve established a “golden aviation loop” between Tokyo, Tai­pei, and Shanghai, which expands the area within which our people can travel and return in a single day. These developments are a big boost to the efforts of Taiwanese businesses to establish an international presence.

Of course, the sooner we can resume talks with the US, the better, and the US has been sending very positive signals. The US presidential election was just recently completed, which means there will be a round of personnel changes there. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, for example, has already said she’ll be stepping down. But once US cabinet appointments have been ironed out, I think talks could resume as early as the spring of 2013.

I’d like to remind people in the industrial sector that the opening of Taiwan’s markets is a certainty. In trade talks, there’s a give and take. If you want to get tariff-free treatment, then you’ve got to give up protections for certain industries.

After Taiwan joined the WTO in 2002, our industries gradually started making adjustments, but the process mustn’t go too quickly. There has to be a transition period to minimize the impact on certain industries.

Regardless whether it’s liberalization with the EU or trade with the US, the goal is to afford reciprocal benefits for both sides. Trade between Taiwan and the EU amounts to US$60 billion per year, and the US is our third largest trading partner and our biggest source of foreign investments. Without the prospect of increased trade, we wouldn’t have been able to obtain visa-free treatment.

Q: After the resumption of Taiwan-US trade talks, how much will that help in our effort to join the Trans-Pacific Partnership?

A: The TPP is a free trade agreement with very high admission requirements. Even Japan dares not say lightly that it intends to join. Japan still has protectionist measures in place, and people within industrial circles have many different views regarding TPP membership.

The TPP requires a greater degree of liberalization than the WTO does. It touches upon a wider range of industries, including manufacturing, services, and agriculture. And it also deals with labor, the environment, market transparency, telecommunications, and government procurement.

The overarching trend is toward continued strengthening of economic integration in the Asia-Pacific region. The process will include bilateral free trade agreements and ASEAN + 3 (mainland China, Japan, and South Korea). ASEAN is preparing to expand its membership to become the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP). And the US-led TPP is gradually taking form. These developments will marginalize countries that fail to take part in the process of regional economic integration.

That’s why our preparatory work over the next eight years is so important. As we become more open, our economic and trade agencies must help our manufacturing sector to achieve transition, and amend our laws and regulations governing economic and trade relations. And our diplomatic corps will work to further create favorable conditions within the international arena so that Taiwan can continue to enjoy international support. In this regard, APEC is an extremely important forum. The 11 current members of the TPP are all APEC members. We have to make other countries understand that our determination to join the TPP is for real. They need to know it is not just talk on our part, because in fact we are willing to adjust our industrial structure to meet TPP standards. This is a very big and challenging project, and cross-ministerial cooperation is needed if we are to succeed.