US President Barack Obama’s nominee to be ambassador to China promised on Thursday to bring a “hard-headed realist” approach to relations and said he felt personally invested in the fate of Taiwan.
Utah Governor Jon Huntsman, who is fluent in Mandarin and Hoklo, told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee that the sometimes difficult 30-year diplomatic relationship was in “an exceptionally exciting time.”
“But I also am a hard-headed realist about what it’s going to take to manage this relationship or being part of that team in circumnavigating the challenges ahead,” said Huntsman, 49, who is expected to win easy confirmation.
PHOTO: AP
The governor, who had been floated as a possible 2012 Republican challenger to Obama, said he would work to improve Sino-US economic and military relations and bolster cooperation on issues such as climate change and North Korea.
“We need to continue working closely with China to convince North Korea to abandon its nuclear weapons program,” Huntsman said, just hours after Pyongyang declared denuclearization talks dead.
However, Huntsman named Taiwan, human rights and Tibet among the “areas where we have differences with China” and vowed “robust engagement” on human rights if confirmed.
The governor, who lived in Taiwan as a Mormon missionary, said he felt “personally invested in the peaceful resolution of cross-strait differences, in a way that respects the wishes of the people on both Taiwan and the mainland.”
He said that current US policy “supports this objective, and I have been encouraged by the recent relaxing of cross-strait tensions.”
The governor received warm praise from senators of both parties, and the committee was expected to refer his nomination to the full Senate quickly for confirmation before lawmakers leave for a month-long recess on Aug. 7.
Relations between Washington and Beijing have taken on rising importance in the last decade as China has embraced its role as a leading global economy and has pushed for regional security amid tense standoffs with North Korea.
Asked about persistent US complaints that China’s currency is artificially cheap, giving its exports a boost, Huntsman said Beijing had made progress on trade imbalances and on the value of its money.
“It is our every hope and desire and, indeed, our intent at the negotiating table to ensure that progress is made in this particular area,” the governor said.
He also said he hoped that Beijing would curb arms sales to conflict-ravaged areas of Africa and urged China to “work with us to address governance and development concerns in places like Sudan, Burma [Myanmar] and Zimbabwe.”
There were moments of levity, too, as when Huntsman acknowledged senators’ praise and declared: “I hope I do as well at my funeral. I’m not sure that I will.”
The Utah governor, a former ambassador to Singapore, noted that he had two adopted daughters, one from China and one from India, and quipped: “Happily, no border disputes yet surrounding their bedrooms.”
The International Industrial Talents Education Special (INTENSE) Program to attract foreigners to study and work in Taiwan will provide scholarships and a living allowance of up to NT$440,000 per person for two years beginning in August, Minister of Education Pan Wen-chung (潘文忠) told a meeting of the legislature’s Education and Culture Committee yesterday. Pan was giving an update on the program’s implementation, a review of universities’ efforts to recruit international students and promotion of the Taiwan Huayu Bilingual Exchanges of Selected Talent (BEST) program. Each INTENSE Program student would be awarded a scholarship of up to NT$100,000 per year for up to
‘MONEY PIT’: The KMT’s more than NT$2 trillion infrastructure project proposals for eastern Taiwan lack professional input and financial transparency, the DPP said The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) caucus yesterday said it would ask the Executive Yuan to raise a motion to oppose the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) caucus’ infrastructure proposals and prepare to file for a constitutional interpretation if the KMT-dominated legislature forces their passage. The DPP caucus described the three infrastructure plans for transportation links to eastern Taiwan proposed by the KMT as “three money pit projects” that would cost more than NT$2 trillion (US$61.72 billion). It would ask the Executive Yuan to oppose public projects that would drain state financial resources, DPP caucus secretary-general Rosalia Wu (吳思瑤) said. It would also file for
SELF-SUFFICIENCY: The project would only be the beginning, as Taiwan needs at least 120 satellites to ensure uninterrupted communication, Wu Tsung-tsong said The Taiwan Space Agency (TASA) yesterday said it plans to launch six low Earth orbit satellites starting in 2026 as part of the government’s plan to boost the resilience of the nation’s communications. The development of the technology gained attention after Ukrainians were able to access the Internet through Space Exploration Technologies Corp (SpaceX) CEO Elon Musk’s Starlink satellite service, despite their infrastructure being severely damaged in the war with Russia. Two of the satellites would be built by the government, while four would involve cooperation between TASA and private contractors. “Over the past 30 years, the satellite technology in Taiwan has
PLAN: Nations would receive US$5m a year if they could advance Taiwan’s international participation, diversify supply chains away from China or counter Beijing’s influence The US House of Representatives Select Committee on Strategic Competition Between the US and the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) on Friday introduced a bill that would approve US$120 million to be spent on supporting Taiwan’s international space and tackling coercion by China. The bipartisan legislation — the Taiwan Allies Fund Act — was proposed ahead of the inauguration of president-elect William Lai (賴清德) of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) on May 20. The committee said in a statement that the bill “strengthens Taiwan’s global network of friends by authorizing [US]$120 million over three years for the State Department and USAID [US Agency