There is a growing chorus of protest against perceived efforts by members of US President Barack Obama’s administration to interfere in Taiwanese elections by boosting President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九), who is seeking re-election on Jan. 14.
US Representative Michael McCaul and US Senator Sherrod Brown have now written separate letters to US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton urging her to maintain neutrality.
The letters come as the White House appears to be approving measures — which include new visa-waiver rules and visits to Taiwan by senior officials — that could be interpreted as an -endorsement for Ma.
It is believed within some Washington political circles that Obama thinks Ma will continue to appease China if he is re-elected and that he would not cause any problems for US policy by trying to strengthen Taiwanese independence.
“We must send a strong signal that the US is committed to seeing that Taiwan’s elections are free, fair and transparent, and that the results are respected by all sides within Taiwan and by all of its neighbors,” McCaul told Clinton.
“In keeping with our own founding principles of freedom and democracy, I urge the administration to refrain from speaking or acting in any way that might be construed as favoring any one candidate over the others,” McCaul said.
McCaul also said that China might attempt to “undermine the integrity of the electoral process in Taiwan — whether by military or other means — or to interfere with the transfer of power after the election if the opposition party is victorious on Jan. 14.”
In his letter, Brown reminded Clinton that it was US policy to strongly support Taiwan’s democracy and the will of the Taiwanese people to choose their own leaders.
“We don’t take any sides,” Brown said. “It is critical that our government continue to refrain from endorsing a particular political candidate or party. I ask you to ensure that our government does not actively or inadvertently influence the outcome of the upcoming Taiwanese elections.”
Bob Yang (楊英育), president of the Formosan Association for -Public Affairs, commented: “We commend these gestures of bipartisan support in the US House and Senate for free, fair and transparent elections in Taiwan.”
‘NO EQUILIBRIUM’: Taiwan’s increased defense spending is a good step, but it needs to do more to have the ability to deter aggression from China, a senior US official said The US plans to sell as many as seven major weapons systems — including mines, cruise missiles and drones — to Taiwan, four people familiar with the discussions said. Pursuing seven sales at once is a rare departure from years of precedent in which US military sales to Taiwan were spaced out and carefully calibrated to minimize tensions with Beijing. However, US President Donald Trump’s administration has this year become more aggressive with China, and the sales would land as relations between Beijing and Washington are at their lowest point in decades over accusations of spying, lingering trade tensions, disputes about the
CLOSE ENCOUNTERS: Several of the PLA fighter jets that crossed the median line of the Strait came within 68km of Hsinchu, drawing warnings from Taiwan, the ministry said At least 18 Chinese military aircraft yesterday flew into the nation’s air defense identification zone (ADIZ) on the second day of a US delegation’s visit, the Ministry of National Defense said, adding that the military responded by deploying an air defense missile system to monitor their activities. A delegation led by US Undersecretary of State for Economic Growth, Energy and the Environment Keith Krach on Thursday started a three-day visit to Taiwan. The ministry from Thursday started publicizing the actions of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) in Taiwan’s ADIZ on its Web site and Twitter. According to ministry reports, 18 PLA aircraft
TWO CASES: The five allegedly conspired with conglomerates, threatening the nation’s governance and subverting the rules of ethical conduct, a deputy chief prosecutor said Taipei prosecutors yesterday charged three legislators and one former lawmaker with contravening the Anti-Corruption Act (貪污治罪條例) in a case linked to former Pacific Distribution Investment Co (太平洋流通) chairman Lee Heng-lung’s (李恆隆) battle with the Far Eastern Group (遠東集團) over ownership of the Pacific SOGO Department Store (太平洋崇光百貨) chain, while independent Legislator Chao Cheng-yu (趙正宇) was indicted in a separate case involving two funeral services companies and a plot of land in a national park. Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislators Chen Chao-ming (陳超明) and Sufin Siluko (廖國棟), Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Su Chen-ching (蘇震清) and former New Power Party legislator
Swedish Member of Parliament Hampus Hagman is pushing for changing the name of the nation’s trade office in Taipei to signal improved relations with “Asia’s perhaps foremost democracy.” Hagman on Wednesday last week proposed renaming the Swedish Trade and Invest Council to “Sweden’s Office in Taipei,” following similar changes by other nations. The Swedish Trade and Invest Council, part of Business Sweden, is owned by the Swedish government and Swedish industry. Taiwan and Sweden share important values such as respect for democracy, human rights, the rule of law and freedom of speech, Hagman said in the motion, adding that the two nations
RSS