The US will continue its commitment to Taiwan and will help Taiwan maintain adequate defense capability, US Secretary of State John Kerry said recently in response to questions from the Senate.
Kerry added that Washington would continue to support Taiwan’s bid for meaningful participation in international bodies, such as the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO).
The US Department of State will work with the international community to help with Taiwan’s participation in the ICAO, Kerry said in his response to questions submitted by Robert Menendez, chairman of the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
Photo: AFP
The US will also encourage other UN agencies and global organizations to expand opportunities for Taiwan to participate in their technical and specialist meetings, Kerry said.
He also reaffirmed that the US would help Taiwan maintain adequate self-defense.
He firmly reiterated the US’ support for Taiwan, in response to questions on the Taiwan Relations Act (TRA) and the “six assurances” submitted by Republican Senator Bob Corker and Democratic Senator Ben Cardin, both members of the foreign relations committee.
Supplying Taiwan with weapons to maintain adequate defense capability is in line with the TRA and the US’ “one China” policy, Kerry said. These long-existing policies have contributed to peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait, he added.
Commenting on the exchange, Representative to the US King Pu-tsung (金溥聰) expressed gratitude for the senators’ concern for Taiwan’s international participation and said he hoped that the US Congress would continue its close cooperation with Taiwan.
The Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office in the US also welcomed Kerry’s support for Taiwan’s bid to participate in the ICAO and his commitment to Taiwan’s security. The office said it looks forward to cooperating with Kerry’s team to further expand Taiwan’s international participation and advance Taipei-Washington ties.
The TRA, enacted in 1979 after the US severed diplomatic ties with Taiwan in favor of China, obliges the US to help Taiwan defend itself.
In 1982, then-US president Ronald Reagan offered Taiwan six assurances, which included a promise that the US would not set a date for termination of arms sales to Taiwan.
Kerry, a former head of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, succeeded Hillary Rodham Clinton as secretary of state on Feb. 1.
Japan has deployed long-range missiles in a southwestern region near China, the Japanese defense minister said yesterday, at a time when ties with Beijing are at their lowest in recent years. The missiles were installed in Kumamoto in the southern region of Kyushu, as Japan is attempting to shore up its military capacity as China steps up naval activity in the East China Sea. “Standoff defense capabilities enable us to counter the threat of enemy forces attempting to invade our country ... while ensuring the safety of our personnel,” Japanese Minister of Defense Shinjiro Koizumi said. “This is an extremely important initiative for
The nation’s fastest supercomputer, Nano 4 (晶創26), is scheduled to be launched in the third quarter, and would be used to train large language models in finance and national defense sectors, the National Center for High-Performance Computing (NCHC) said. The supercomputer, which would operate at about 86.05 petaflops, is being tested at a new cloud computing center in the Southern Taiwan Science Park in Tainan. The exterior of the server cabinet features chip circuitry patterns overlaid with a map of Taiwan, highlighting the nation’s central position in the semiconductor industry. The center also houses Taiwania 2, Taiwania 3, Forerunner 1 and
MORE POPULAR: Taiwan Pass sales increased by 59 percent during the first quarter compared with the same period last year, the Tourism Administration said The Tourism Administration yesterday said that it has streamlined the Taiwan Pass, with two versions available for purchase beginning today. The tourism agency has made the pass available to international tourists since 2024, allowing them to access the high-speed rail, Taiwan Railway Corp services, four MRT systems and four Taiwan Tourist Shuttles. Previously, five types of Taiwan Pass were available, but some tourists have said that the offerings were too complicated. The agency said only two types of Taiwan Pass would be available, starting from a three-day pass with the high-speed rail and a three-day pass with Taiwan Railway Corp. The former costs NT$2,800
FIRST TRIAL: Ko’s lawyers sought reduced bail and other concessions, as did other defendants, but the bail judge denied their requests, citing the severity of the sentences Former Taipei mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) was yesterday sentenced to 17 years in prison and had his civil rights suspended for six years over corruption, embezzlement and other charges. Taipei prosecutors in December last year asked the Taipei District Court for a combined 28-year, six-month sentence for the four cases against Ko, who founded the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP). The cases were linked to the Core Pacific City (京華城購物中心) redevelopment project and the mismanagement of political donations. Other defendants convicted on separate charges included Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Taipei City Councilor Angela Ying (應曉薇), who was handed a 15-year, six-month sentence; Core Pacific
RSS