President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) on Saturday landed in Honolulu en route to the nation’s diplomatic allies in the Pacific and set off for a visit to a Pearl Harbor memorial.
Tsai left on Saturday on a week-long trip to three Pacific island allies — Tuvalu, the Solomon Islands and the Marshall Islands — via Honolulu and the US territory of Guam.
Earlier this week, the US Department of State said Tsai’s transits through US soil would be “private and unofficial” and were based on long-standing US practice consistent with “our unofficial relations with Taiwan.”
Photo: Reuters
It said there was “no change to the US ‘one China’ policy,” which recognizes that Beijing maintains the view that there is only “one China,” but holds that Taiwan's sovereignty is unresolved.
Tsai says she wants to maintain peace with China, but will defend Taiwan’s democracy and security.
The president, accompanied by her entourage, on Saturday afternoon left on a short boat ride for the USS Arizona Memorial, which is built over the remains of the battleship sunk in Pearl Harbor in World War II.
Earlier in the day, Tsai took part in a lunch that was attended by about 200 overseas Taiwanese.
Tsai told lunch guests that Hawaii is of great importance to Taiwan, citing links between the nation’s Aborigines and those in Hawaii, as well as mutual exchanges in business and tourism.
More than 10,000 Taiwanese travelers visit the US state every year, Tsai said, adding that the number is likely to increase following Taiwan’s admission into the US Global Entry program beginning on Wednesday.
The Global Entry program is an initiative launched by the US government for expedited entry through US borders.
Tsai said relations between the two nations would strengthen, adding that Taiwan would continue to work with the US on regional security, investment and trade issues.
She reiterated her position that Taiwan would always be a reliable partner of the US.
Tsai said that Aborigines on Pacific islands, like those in Hawaii, are important to their Taiwanese counterparts in their journey to learn about their history.
She said she hopes Taiwan and Hawaii can build on the existing foundation of cooperation and continue to develop an even closer relationship in the spirit of sustainable development goals set by the UN.
American Institute in Taiwan Director James Moriarty, who was also in attendance, said he has witnessed Taiwan’s democracy growing stronger over the years, adding that Taiwanese under 30 have not experienced authoritarianism.
Interpersonal exchanges are the core of Taiwan-US relations and the most important part of relations between the two nations outside of cooperation on regional security and trade, he said.
The trip to diplomatic allies is Tsai’s second this year. In January she stopped over in Houston, Texas, and San Francisco on her way to and from Latin America, and visited the headquarters of Twitter, which is blocked in China.
This story has been amended since it was first published to correct the US' "one China policy," which holds that Taiwan's sovereignty is unresolved.
CALL FOR SUPPORT: President William Lai called on lawmakers across party lines to ensure the livelihood of Taiwanese and that national security is protected President William Lai (賴清德) yesterday called for bipartisan support for Taiwan’s investment in self-defense capabilities at the christening and launch of two coast guard vessels at CSBC Corp, Taiwan’s (台灣國際造船) shipyard in Kaohsiung. The Taipei (台北) is the fourth and final ship of the Chiayi-class offshore patrol vessels, and the Siraya (西拉雅) is the Coast Guard Administration’s (CGA) first-ever ocean patrol vessel, the government said. The Taipei is the fourth and final ship of the Chiayi-class offshore patrol vessels with a displacement of about 4,000 tonnes, Lai said. This ship class was ordered as a result of former president Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) 2018
UKRAINE, NVIDIA: The US leader said the subject of Russia’s war had come up ‘very strongly,’ while Jenson Huang was hoping that the conversation was good Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) and US President Donald Trump had differing takes following their meeting in Busan, South Korea, yesterday. Xi said that the two sides should complete follow-up work as soon as possible to deliver tangible results that would provide “peace of mind” to China, the US and the rest of the world, while Trump hailed the “great success” of the talks. The two discussed trade, including a deal to reduce tariffs slapped on China for its role in the fentanyl trade, as well as cooperation in ending the war in Ukraine, among other issues, but they did not mention
HOTEL HIRING: An official said that hoteliers could begin hiring migrant workers next year, but must adhere to a rule requiring a NT$2,000 salary hike for Taiwanese The government is to allow the hospitality industry to recruit mid-level migrant workers for housekeeping and three other lines of work after the Executive Yuan yesterday approved a proposal by the Ministry of Labor. A shortage of workers at hotels and accommodation facilities was discussed at a meeting of the legislature’s Transportation Committee. A 2023 survey conducted by the Tourism Administration found that Taiwan’s lodging industry was short of about 6,600 housekeeping and cleaning workers, the agency said in a report to the committee. The shortage of workers in the industry is being studied, the report said. Hotel and Lodging Division Deputy Director Cheng
‘SECRETS’: While saying China would not attack during his presidency, Donald Trump declined to say how Washington would respond if Beijing were to take military action US President Donald Trump said that China would not take military action against Taiwan while he is president, as the Chinese leaders “know the consequences.” Trump made the statement during an interview on CBS’ 60 Minutes program that aired on Sunday, a few days after his meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) in South Korea. “He [Xi] has openly said, and his people have openly said at meetings, ‘we would never do anything while President Trump is president,’ because they know the consequences,” Trump said in the interview. However, he repeatedly declined to say exactly how Washington would respond in
RSS