The US government’s US$255 million investment in the new American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) compound is a symbol of its commitment to Taiwan, US Representative Gregg Harper, who co-chairs the US Congressional Taiwan Caucus, said yesterday.
“The opening tomorrow of the new AIT headquarters shows how important our relationship is to the US,” the Republican lawmaker from Mississippi said.
Harper and his wife, Sidney, arrived on Sunday to attend today’s dedication ceremony of the new office complex in Taipei’s Neihu District (內湖). This is Harper’s third visit to Taiwan.
Photo: Chien Jung-fong, Taipei Times
Commenting on US-Taiwan relations, Harper said that as the caucus co-chair, he would assure people in Taiwan that “in Washington DC, our commitment is as strong or stronger than ever, and will continue that way in the future.”
While Republicans and Democrats in the US Congress do not always get along, “we recently passed the Taiwan Travel Act unanimously... That does not happen very often,” he said.
The act, which encourages visits between US and Taiwanese officials “at all levels,” was signed into law on March 16.
As free and democratic societies, the US and Taiwan share the same values, and this would allow them to maintain close relations, Harper said.
China’s pressuring of international companies into changing their references to Taiwan was an unfortunate development, and he has encouraged such companies to not give in to pressure, he said.
AIT Chairman James Moriarty, who arrived in Taiwan on Sunday, yesterday said the new AIT complex is “an important symbol” of US commitment to Taiwan.
It is Moriarty’s fourth visit since his appointment as AIT chairman in October 2016, the AIT said in a statement.
He also worked at the AIT in Taipei from 1995 to 1998.
Moriarty is scheduled to meet with several senior political and business figures, including some from Kaohsiung and Tainan, before leaving on Saturday, the AIT said.
The US delegation to today’s ceremony also includes US Assistant Secretary of State for Educational and Cultural Affairs Marie Royce, who is making her first trip to Taiwan in that capacity, although she has visited before with her husband, US House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Ed Royce.
President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) and Marie Royce are expected to speak at today’s event, the AIT said.
MILITARY BOOST: The procurement was planned after Washington recommended that Taiwan increase its stock of air defense missiles, a defense official said yesterday Taiwan is planning to order an additional four PAC-3 MSE systems and up to 500 missiles in response to an increasing number of missile sites on China’s east coast, a defense official said yesterday. The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said that the proposed order would be placed using the defense procurement special budget, adding that about NT$1 trillion (US$32,88 billion) has been allocated for the budget. The proposed acquisition would include launchers, missiles, and a lower tier air and missile defense radar system, they said The procurement was planned after the US military recommended that Taiwan increase
POLITICAL AGENDA: Beijing’s cross-strait Mid-Autumn Festival events are part of a ‘cultural united front’ aimed at promoting unification with Taiwan, academics said Local authorities in China have been inviting Taiwanese to participate in cross-strait Mid-Autumn Festival celebrations centered around ideals of “family and nation,” a move Taiwanese academics said politicizes the holiday to promote the idea of “one family” across the Taiwan Strait. Sources said that China’s Fujian Provincial Government is organizing about 20 cross-strait-themed events in cities including Quanzhou, Nanping, Sanming and Zhangzhou. In Zhangzhou, a festival scheduled for Wednesday is to showcase Minnan-language songs and budaixi (布袋戲) glove puppetry to highlight cultural similarities between Taiwan and the region. Elsewhere, Jiangsu Province is hosting more than 10 similar celebrations in Taizhou, Changzhou, Suzhou,
TWO HEAVYWEIGHTS: Trump and Xi respect each other, are in a unique position to do something great, and they want to do that together, the US envoy to China said The administration of US President Donald Trump has told Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) “we don’t want any coercion, but we want [the Taiwan dispute] resolved peacefully,” US ambassador to China David Perdue said in a TV interview on Thursday. Trump “has said very clearly, we are not changing the ‘one China’ policy, we are going to adhere to the Taiwan Relations Act, the three communiques and the ‘six assurances’ that were done under [former US president Ronald] Reagan,” Perdue told Joe Kernen, cohost of CNBC’s Squawk Box. The act, the Three Joint Communiques and the “six assurances” are guidelines for Washington
DEEPENING TIES: The two are boosting cooperation in response to China’s coercive actions and have signed MOUs on search-and-rescue and anti-smuggling efforts Taiwan and Japan are moving to normalize joint coast guard training and considering the inclusion of other allies, the Japanese Yomiuri Shimbun reported yesterday. Both nations’ coast guards in June sent vessels to the seas south of the Sakishima Islands to conduct joint training, the report said, adding that it was the second joint maritime training exercise since the nations severed formal diplomatic ties in September 1972. Japan dispatched the Nagoya Coast Guard’s Mizuho, a 134m, 6,000-tonne patrol vessel which can carry a helicopter, while the Coast Guard Administration (CGA) sent the 126m, 4,000-tonne Yunlin, one of its largest vessels, the report
RSS