The US wants Taiwan to be “strong and confident,” a senior Pentagon official said on Monday.
“It should contribute to our regional effort to maintain peace and security,” US Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for East Asia Abraham Denmark said.
Denmark’s keynote speech to the 14th annual US-Taiwan Defense Industry Conference in Williamsburg, Virginia, was closed to the press, but the Taipei Times was later given access to the notes of several of those in attendance.
He referred twice to the US commitment to Taiwan’s defense.
“Taiwan needs to have an effective defense capability itself,” he said.
“We do have a ‘one China’ policy, the Three Communiques and the Taiwan Relations Act (TRA),” Denmark said.
He referred to the earlier arms sales and granting of export licenses to Taiwan by the administration of US President Barack Obama amounting to nearly US$14 billion.
Denmark talked about Washington’s obligations under the TRA and said: “Don’t focus on the sales aspect itself.”
He said that while arms sales were part of the US obligations, “we are constantly engaged to enhance abilities.”
Denmark said that the US wanted Taiwan to have a “credible, visible defense — including non-traditional and asymmetric capabilities.”
He mentioned a number of specific measures the nation could take, including the “hardening” of defense facilities.
It is important for Taiwan to have the right size of defense capability that is “mobile and surviving,” he said.
Denmark added that what mattered most was that the Taiwan military had “the right capabilities and the right training and the right motivation.”
Taiwan’s military needs to emphasize operational readiness and “see the necessity to replace old systems with new ones, and be ready to do so,” he said.
He referred to a recent report to the US Congress which said Taiwan remained the focus of China’s military effort and said it was a “challenge” to the US to enhance the nation’s capabilities.
Denmark said the conference helped the US defense industry to focus on its role to help Taiwan maintain peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait.
He repeated his earlier point about the necessity of Taiwan’s defense force being “mobile, survivable and difficult to destroy.”
Denmark said that while the US was committed to Taiwan’s defense, it was also essential for Taiwan to be determined to defend itself.
Taiwan is projected to lose a working-age population of about 6.67 million people in two waves of retirement in the coming years, as the nation confronts accelerating demographic decline and a shortage of younger workers to take their place, the Ministry of the Interior said. Taiwan experienced its largest baby boom between 1958 and 1966, when the population grew by 3.78 million, followed by a second surge of 2.89 million between 1976 and 1982, ministry data showed. In 2023, the first of those baby boom generations — those born in the late 1950s and early 1960s — began to enter retirement, triggering
ECONOMIC BOOST: Should the more than 23 million people eligible for the NT$10,000 handouts spend them the same way as in 2023, GDP could rise 0.5 percent, an official said Universal cash handouts of NT$10,000 (US$330) are to be disbursed late next month at the earliest — including to permanent residents and foreign residents married to Taiwanese — pending legislative approval, the Ministry of Finance said yesterday. The Executive Yuan yesterday approved the Special Act for Strengthening Economic, Social and National Security Resilience in Response to International Circumstances (因應國際情勢強化經濟社會及民生國安韌性特別條例). The NT$550 billion special budget includes NT$236 billion for the cash handouts, plus an additional NT$20 billion set aside as reserve funds, expected to be used to support industries. Handouts might begin one month after the bill is promulgated and would be completed within
The National Development Council (NDC) yesterday unveiled details of new regulations that ease restrictions on foreigners working or living in Taiwan, as part of a bid to attract skilled workers from abroad. The regulations, which could go into effect in the first quarter of next year, stem from amendments to the Act for the Recruitment and Employment of Foreign Professionals (外國專業人才延攬及僱用法) passed by lawmakers on Aug. 29. Students categorized as “overseas compatriots” would be allowed to stay and work in Taiwan in the two years after their graduation without obtaining additional permits, doing away with the evaluation process that is currently required,
IMPORTANT BACKER: China seeks to expel US influence from the Indo-Pacific region and supplant Washington as the global leader, MAC Minister Chiu Chui-cheng said China is preparing for war to seize Taiwan, Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) Minister Chiu Chui-cheng (邱垂正) said in Washington on Friday, warning that Taiwan’s fall would trigger a regional “domino effect” endangering US security. In a speech titled “Maintaining the Peaceful and Stable Status Quo Across the Taiwan Strait is in Line with the Shared Interests of Taiwan and the United States,” Chiu said Taiwan’s strategic importance is “closely tied” to US interests. Geopolitically, Taiwan sits in a “core position” in the first island chain — an arc stretching from Japan, through Taiwan and the Philippines, to Borneo, which is shared by
RSS