The US should honor its commitment in providing Taiwan the necessary capability to defend itself, Representative Shelley Berkley, co-chairperson of the US House of Representatives’ Taiwan Caucus, said yesterday in Taipei.
“I believe the US must honor its commitment to Taiwan, a very reliable ally and democracy. The commitment regarding arms sales must be honored both by the former and the new administration,” she said.
Recent reports from Washington speculated that Beijing could try to strong arm US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton during her visit China, which begins on Friday, to negotiate for a freer hand with Tibet and Taiwan in exchange for a pledge to cut greenhouse gas emissions.
Berkley said Clinton would never be bullied into anything.
Berkley was named as co-chairperson of the 147-member Taiwan Caucus, an informal congressional organization comprised of lawmakers with an interest in boosting Taiwan-US relations, in January 2007.
The Nevada Democrat is in Taiwan at the invitation of Fu Jen Catholic University to participate in events marking the 30th anniversary of the Taiwan Relations Act (TRA), a US law that is the backbone of US-Taiwan relations.
Berkley plans to propose a House resolution to commemorate the TRA’s anniversary.
President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) met Berkley yesterday morning and urged the US government to follow the British government’s recent move to include Taiwan in its visa-waiver program.
Extending such privileges to Taiwan would boost tourism to the US, the persident said, noting that Japan saw an increase of Taiwanese tourists after it granted Taiwanese a 90-day visa free privilege two years ago.
“China is preparing to invade Taiwan,” Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Francois Wu (吳志中) said in an exclusive interview with British media channel Sky News for a special report titled, “Is Taiwan ready for a Chinese invasion?” the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said today in a statement. The 25-minute-long special report by Helen Ann-Smith released yesterday saw Sky News travel to Penghu, Taoyuan and Taipei to discuss the possibility of a Chinese invasion and how Taiwan is preparing for an attack. The film observed emergency response drills, interviewed baseball fans at the Taipei Dome on their views of US President
ECONOMIC BENEFITS: The imports from Belize would replace those from Honduras, whose shrimp exports have dropped 67 percent since cutting ties in 2023 Maintaining ties with Taiwan has economic benefits, Ministry of Foreign Affairs officials said yesterday, citing the approval of frozen whiteleg shrimp imports from Belize by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) as an example. The FDA on Wednesday approved the tariff-free imports from Belize after the whiteleg shrimp passed the Systematic Inspection of Imported Food, which would continue to boost mutual trade, the ministry said. Taiwan’s annual consumption of whiteleg shrimps stands at 30,000 tonnes, far exceeding domestic production, the ministry said. Taiwan used to fill the gap by importing shrimps from Honduras, but purchases slumped after Tegucigalpa severed diplomatic ties with Taiwan
The Executive Yuan yesterday approved a southwestern extension of the Sanying MRT Line from New Taipei to Bade District (八德) in Taoyuan, with a goal of starting construction by late 2026. The 4.03-kilometer extension, featuring three new stations, will run from the current terminus at Yingtao Fude Station (LB12) in New Taipei City to Dannan Station (LB14), where it will connect with Taoyuan’s Green Line, New Taipei City Metro Corp said in a statement. This extension will follow the completion of core Sanying Line, a 14.29-kilometer medium-capacity system linking Tucheng (土城), Sansia (三峽)
CARGO LOSS: About 50 containers at the stern of the ‘Ever Lunar’ cargo ship went overboard, prompting the temporary closure of the port and disrupting operations Evergreen Marine Corp, Taiwan’s largest container shipper, yesterday said that all crew members aboard the Ever Lunar (長月) were safe after dozens of containers fell overboard off the coast of Peru the previous day. The incident occurred at 9:40am on Friday as the Ever Lunar was anchored and waiting to enter the Port of Callao when it suddenly experienced severe rolling, Evergreen said in a statement. The rolling, which caused the containers to fall, might have been caused by factors including a tsunami triggered by an earthquake in Russia, poor winter sea conditions in South America or a sudden influx of waves,
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