The government congratulated US President Donald Trump and US Vice President Mike Pence following their inauguration on Friday, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement, adding that it looks forward to working with the new administration to advance bilateral ties.
Taiwan and the US share common values, such as respect for freedom, democracy and human rights, and have maintained cooperation based on the principles of mutual trust and reciprocity, the ministry said.
The two nations have established a close relationship in the areas of politics, security, economy and culture, the ministry said, adding that Taiwan looks forward to working with the new US administration to promote peace, stability and prosperity in the Asia-Pacific region.
Photo: AP
President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) also congratulated Trump and Pence on their inauguration.
In a tweet on her recently reactivated Twitter account, she said she hoped for stronger ties between Taiwan and the US during Trump’s tenure and that she looks forward to advancing the two nations’ friendship.
Taiwan’s delegation to the inauguration ceremony was led by former premier Yu Shyi-kun and comprised of lawmakers and politicians representing the major political parties.
After attending the ceremony, Yu said it was impressive that former US secretary of state Hillary Rodham Clinton — the Democratic candidate in the US presidential election in November last year — received a warm welcome from Trump’s supporters when she arrived at his inauguration.
The US is a mature democracy and can always implement a peaceful transition of power, despite fierce competition during electoral campaigns, Yu said, citing it as a good example for Taiwan.
China should learn from the US’ experience and see the value of democracy, he said.
Taipei and Washington should focus on innovative industries when it comes to trade, Yu said.
Taiwan should boost efforts to negotiate a free-trade agreement with the US if Trump withdraws from the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), he said.
The Trump administration’s “America first” foreign policy includes withdrawal from the TPP, according to information on a revamped White House Web site.
Among other “pointed questions,” Yu said he asked former Heritage Foundation president Edwin Feulner about the possibility of Trump “selling out” Taiwan.
According to Yu, Feulner asked how any US president could betray Taiwan when the Taiwan Relations Act (TRA) exists.
The TRA outlines US commitments to Taiwan.
Feulner, an adviser to Trump’s transition team, said that Taiwan should not worry so much, according to Yu.
Yu said Feulner’s response meant that the US president could not sell out Taiwan even if he wanted to.
The TRA was enacted in 1979 to maintain commercial, cultural and other unofficial relations between Taiwan and the US after Washington switched diplomatic recognition from Taipei to Beijing.
The TRA requires the US “to provide Taiwan with arms of a defensive character.”
AGING: As of last month, people aged 65 or older accounted for 20.06 percent of the total population and the number of couples who got married fell by 18,685 from 2024 Taiwan has surpassed South Korea as the country least willing to have children, with an annual crude birthrate of 4.62 per 1,000 people, Ministry of the Interior data showed yesterday. The nation was previously ranked the second-lowest country in terms of total fertility rate, or the average number of children a woman has in her lifetime. However, South Korea’s fertility rate began to recover from 2023, with total fertility rate rising from 0.72 and estimated to reach 0.82 to 0.85 by last year, and the crude birthrate projected at 6.7 per 1,000 people. Japan’s crude birthrate was projected to fall below six,
US President Donald Trump in an interview with the New York Times published on Thursday said that “it’s up to” Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) what China does on Taiwan, but that he would be “very unhappy” with a change in the “status quo.” “He [Xi] considers it to be a part of China, and that’s up to him what he’s going to be doing, but I’ve expressed to him that I would be very unhappy if he did that, and I don’t think he’ll do that. I hope he doesn’t do that,” Trump said. Trump made the comments in the context
SELF-DEFENSE: Tokyo has accelerated its spending goal and its defense minister said the nation needs to discuss whether it should develop nuclear-powered submarines China is ramping up objections to what it sees as Japan’s desire to acquire nuclear weapons, despite Tokyo’s longstanding renunciation of such arms, deepening another fissure in the two neighbors’ increasingly tense ties. In what appears to be a concerted effort, China’s foreign and defense ministries issued statements on Thursday condemning alleged remilitarism efforts by Tokyo. The remarks came as two of the country’s top think tanks jointly issued a 29-page report framing actions by “right-wing forces” in Japan as posing a “serious threat” to world peace. While that report did not define “right-wing forces,” the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs was
PREPAREDNESS: Given the difficulty of importing ammunition during wartime, the Ministry of National Defense said it would prioritize ‘coproduction’ partnerships A newly formed unit of the Marine Corps tasked with land-based security operations has recently replaced its aging, domestically produced rifles with more advanced, US-made M4A1 rifles, a source said yesterday. The unnamed source familiar with the matter said the First Security Battalion of the Marine Corps’ Air Defense and Base Guard Group has replaced its older T65K2 rifles, which have been in service since the late 1980s, with the newly received M4A1s. The source did not say exactly when the upgrade took place or how many M4A1s were issued to the battalion. The confirmation came after Chinese-language media reported
RSS