Taiwan and the US yesterday signed a memorandum of understanding on the Global Cooperation Training Framework to enhance bilateral cooperation in responding to global challenges, a move visiting US Assistant Secretary of State for Economic and Business Affairs Charles Rivkin said would “take our partnership to new areas and a new level.”
Before witnessing the signing ceremony at the Taipei Guest House, Rivkin had a closed-door meeting with President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) at the Presidential Office Building to discuss what he said were “matters of importance to our economies.”
Rivkin, responsible for managing trade negotiations, investment treaties and other economic issues at the US Department of State, is the highest-ranking official to have visited Taiwan since his predecessor Jose Fernandez in 2012.
Photo: CNA
In remarks to reporters before his meeting with Ma, Rivkin said people in the US feel “a special bond” with Taiwanese for various reasons.
People in the US admire the robust, prosperous, orderly and free society Taiwan has built, and they share a belief that creating an environment conducive to expansive entrepreneurial activity and innovation is important to continuing economic prosperity, Rivkin said.
Citing statements made recently by various US officials on Taiwan-US relations, Ma said he was “positive” about Taiwan’s chances as a second-round candidate to join the Trans-Pacific Partnership.
Photo: CNA
Ma said he hoped negotiations over a bilateral investment agreement would gain ground.
Rivkin told attendees to the signing ceremony that the framework would not only support broader Taiwan-US relations, but also serve as a platform to enhance their joint engagement in the Asia-Pacific region and the world.
Under the framework, “two like-minded partners will work to create new opportunities to demonstrate the meaning of global citizenship,” Rivkin said.
“The framework is a milestone that will bring into full focus Taiwan’s dramatic transformation from an international aid recipient to an aid provider. This framework will provide Taiwan [with] a new venue to tell its story in a way that may inspire others to follow its successful development path,” he said.
Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Andrew Kao (高振群) said Rivkin’s attendance of the ceremony was a testament to the strength of Taiwan-US relations.
Taiwan has much to offer to the international community in food security, global health, technical training, economic development and humanitarian assistance, Kao said.
“With this ever-expanding partnership with the US, we will work harder to create tangible and mutually beneficial outcomes for the region and the world,” Kao said.
The memorandum of understanding was signed by American Institute in Taiwan Director Christopher Marut and Coordination Council for North American Affairs Chairperson Katherine Chang (張小月).
A global survey showed that 60 percent of Taiwanese had attained higher education, second only to Canada, the Ministry of the Interior said. Taiwan easily surpassed the global average of 43 percent and ranked ahead of major economies, including Japan, South Korea and the US, data from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) for 2024 showed. Taiwan has a high literacy rate, data released by the ministry showed. As of the end of last year, Taiwan had 20.617 million people aged 15 or older, accounting for 88.5 percent of the total population, with a literacy rate of 99.4 percent, the data
CCP ‘PAWN’? Beijing could use the KMT chairwoman’s visit to signal to the world that many people in Taiwan support the ‘one China’ principle, an academic said Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairwoman Cheng Li-wun (鄭麗文) yesterday arrived in China for a “peace” mission and potential meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平), while a Taiwanese minister detailed the number of Chinese warships currently deployed around the nation. Cheng is visiting at a time of increased Chinese military pressure on Taiwan, as the opposition-dominated Legislative Yuan stalls a government plan for US$40 billion in extra defense spending. Speaking to reporters before going to the airport, Cheng said she was going on a “historic journey for peace,” but added that some people felt uneasy about her trip. “If you truly love Taiwan,
Taiwan has arranged for about 8 million barrels of crude oil, or about one-third of its monthly needs, to be shipped from the Red Sea this month to bypass the Strait of Hormuz and ease domestic supply pressures, CPC Corp, Taiwan (CPC, 台灣中油) said yesterday. The state-run oil company has worked with Middle Eastern suppliers to secure routes other than the Strait of Hormuz, through which about 20 percent of the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas typically passes, CPC chairman Fang Jeng-zen (方振仁) said at a meeting of the legislature’s Economics Committee in Taipei. Suppliers in Saudi Arabia have indicated they
NEW LOW: The council in 2024 based predictions on a pessimistic estimate for the nation’s total fertility rate of 0.84, but last year that rate was 0.69, 17 percent lower An expected National Development Council (NDC) report expects the nation’s population to drop below 12 million by 2065, with the old-age dependency ratio to top 100 percent sooner than 2070, sources said yesterday. The council is slated to release its latest population projections in August, using an ultra-low fertility model, the sources said. The previous report projected that Taiwan’s population would fall to 14.37 million by 2070, but based on a new estimate of the total fertility rate (TFR) — the average number of children born to a woman over her lifetime — the population is expected to reach 12 million by
RSS