President Chen Shui-bian (
The award, to be presented by the Congressional Human Rights Caucus, will honor Chen for his "efforts in promoting tolerance, democracy, and human rights," according to a House of Representatives resolution welcoming his visit. The caucus is made up of more than 250 House members, more than half the total House membership of 435.
UN Bid support
Meanwhile, several congressmen are preparing letters in support of Taiwan's bid to join the UN, in advance of a mass rally planned in New York next week on the eve of a global summit meeting accompanying the General Assembly's celebration of its 60th anniversary.
The summit will draw the heads of state of well over 100 nations, including presidents George W. Bush and Hu Jintao (
The House resolution was introduced Thursday by Representative Steve Chabot, a Republican who is a co-chairman of the Congressional Taiwan Caucus. It was also sponsored by the other three co-chairman of the Taiwan caucus, and has attracted the co-sponsorship of 10 other House members.
Sponsors expect it to receive sufficient additional support to enable the House International Relations Committee to approve the resolution at a business meeting slated for next Wednesday, and to send it to the full House for approval before Chen arrives.
Chen will stop over in Miami on his way to Latin America and will stay overnight in San Francisco on his way back to Taipei.
`Ironclad' ties
Calling the US-Taiwan relationship over the past half century "ironclad," the House resolution expresses the "sense of Congress" welcoming Chen to the US. It calls the trip "another significant step in broadening and deepening the friendship and cooperation between the United States and Taiwan."
Chen will bring with him "a strong message from the Taiwanese people that Taiwan will cooperate and support the United States campaign against international terrorism and efforts to rebuild an bring democracy and stability to Afghanistan and Iraq," the resolution says.
It also thanks Taiwan for its US$2 million contribution to relief efforts in the devastated Gulf of Mexico coastal areas stricken by Hurricane Katrina, and asks Chen to "communicate to the people of Taiwan the support of Congress and the American People."
The resolution praises Taiwan for "unequivocal support" of human rights, democracy, freedom of the press and speech, and "free and fair elections."
Also in Washington, Taiwan supporters are gathering letters from congressmen endorsing Taiwan's bid to gain UN membership. Those letters are planned to be read at the New York rally on Tuesday, which is expected to draw between 300 and 500 Taiwanese-Americans to demand Taiwan's admission into the world body.
The Taiwanese will hold their demonstration at the UN's Dag Hammarskjold Plaza at midday, and then move to the Waldorf Astoria Hotel, where Bush and Hu are scheduled to meet that afternoon.
The congressional letters will be gathered by the Formosan Association for Public Affairs (FAPA), a major Taiwan lobbying organization in Washington, for presentation at the rally.
Unfair exclusion
Tom Tancredo, a Colorado Republican, wrote a typical letter to FAPA president Wu Ming-chi (
"I am hopeful that the UN delegates will resist the relentless and irrational pressure of the communist regime in Beijing and accord the people of Taiwan their rightful representation in this important world body," he says.
Similar expressions were voiced on the floor of the House this week. Republican Representative Dan Burton, the chairman of the Western Hemisphere subcommittee of the House International Relations Committee, said in a speech welcoming Chen's US visit, "It has been a gross injustice to deny Taiwan's 23 million people their proper voice in the world. The United States should take more active steps in helping Taiwan re-enter the World Health Organization and the United Nations."
DAREDEVIL: Honnold said it had always been a dream of his to climb Taipei 101, while a Netflix producer said the skyscraper was ‘a real icon of this country’ US climber Alex Honnold yesterday took on Taiwan’s tallest building, becoming the first person to scale Taipei 101 without a rope, harness or safety net. Hundreds of spectators gathered at the base of the 101-story skyscraper to watch Honnold, 40, embark on his daredevil feat, which was also broadcast live on Netflix. Dressed in a red T-shirt and yellow custom-made climbing shoes, Honnold swiftly moved up the southeast face of the glass and steel building. At one point, he stepped onto a platform midway up to wave down at fans and onlookers who were taking photos. People watching from inside
A Vietnamese migrant worker yesterday won NT$12 million (US$379,627) on a Lunar New Year scratch card in Kaohsiung as part of Taiwan Lottery Co’s (台灣彩券) “NT$12 Million Grand Fortune” (1200萬大吉利) game. The man was the first top-prize winner of the new game launched on Jan. 6 to mark the Lunar New Year. Three Vietnamese migrant workers visited a Taiwan Lottery shop on Xinyue Street in Kaohsiung’s Gangshan District (崗山), a store representative said. The player bought multiple tickets and, after winning nothing, held the final lottery ticket in one hand and rubbed the store’s statue of the Maitreya Buddha’s belly with the other,
‘NATO-PLUS’: ‘Our strategic partners in the Indo-Pacific are facing increasing aggression by the Chinese Communist Party,’ US Representative Rob Wittman said The US House of Representatives on Monday released its version of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, which includes US$1.15 billion to support security cooperation with Taiwan. The omnibus act, covering US$1.2 trillion of spending, allocates US$1 billion for the Taiwan Security Cooperation Initiative, as well as US$150 million for the replacement of defense articles and reimbursement of defense services provided to Taiwan. The fund allocations were based on the US National Defense Authorization Act for fiscal 2026 that was passed by the US Congress last month and authorized up to US$1 billion to the US Defense Security Cooperation Agency in support of the
‘COMMITTED TO DETERRENCE’: Washington would stand by its allies, but it can only help as much as countries help themselves, Raymond Greene said The US is committed to deterrence in the first island chain, but it should not bear the burden alone, as “freedom is not free,” American Institute in Taiwan Director Raymond Greene said in a speech at the Institute for National Defense and Security Research’s “Strengthening Resilience: Defense as the Engine of Development” seminar in Taipei yesterday. In the speech, titled “Investing Together and a Secure and Prosperous Future,” Greene highlighted the contributions of US President Donald Trump’s administration to Taiwan’s defense efforts, including the establishment of supply chains for drones and autonomous systems, offers of security assistance and the expansion of
RSS