Taiwan is an important contributor to the US’ strategy for a “free and open Indo-Pacific” and the US should think creatively in approaching its “non-diplomatic partnership” with Taiwan, US Assistant Secretary of Defense for Asian and Pacific Security Affairs Randall Schriver said in a keynote speech at an American Enterprise Institute event in Washington on Tuesday.
Asked about the effects the National Defense Authorization Act for next fiscal year would have on US policy, Schriver said that the US Department of Defense is examining the act to determine whether it is an endorsement for or a mandate to add new elements to existing policy.
While the act calls for hospital ship visits and exchanges between senior officials, those policies are already enabled under the Taiwan Relations Act and other legislation, he said.
Washington understands that the “sense of the Congress” resolution of the act recommends that the US firmly support Taiwan, which is consistent with US lawmakers’ position, he said.
Taiwan is democratic, well-governed, respects human rights and freedom of religion, and has been a guardian of those values in the region, Schriver said.
Taiwan has considerable experience conducting humanitarian aid and disaster relief through non-governmental organizations, he said.
Washington should think creatively to broaden US-Taiwan cooperation through unofficial channels and promote common values, he added.
Asked what has changed the most since he was US assistant secretary of defense under former US president George W. Bush, Schriver said that China has changed greatly and become more powerful, capable and determined.
However, US allies and friends have also grown in capability and willingness to play an active role in the region, including Japan, Australia and New Zealand, which have accepted their responsibility to uphold international norms and the rule of law, he said.
China’s militarization of the South China Sea is problematic and a violation of Chinese President Xi Jinping’s (習近平) promise to former US president Barack Obama, Schriver said.
Those actions are part of Beijing’s illegal territorial claims and expansion in a disputed maritime region and are damaging to the law-based international order, he said.
China has harassed other nations and made special demands on warships passing through the region, he added.
Expelling China from the Rim of the Pacific Exercise is only the first step of US countermeasures and the US Navy would “absolutely continue” freedom of navigation operations in the South China Sea, Schriver said.
More nations are to conduct freedom of navigation operations to contest the territorial claims that China has asserted over the entirety of South China Sea with its “nine-dash” line, he said.
The US has adequate satellite coverage over the region and is to publicize more information to raise international awareness, he added.
Whether US President Donald Trump’s Indo-Pacific Strategy succeeds depends on how many regional partners join the US’ cause, but Schriver said he is confident that Washington will ultimately prevail in Southeast Asia.
While China might resist in the beginning, it will eventually accept the concept of a free and open Indo-Pacific region, he said.
US officials often hear of Southeast Asian nations being unwilling to choose between Washington and Beijing, but given China’s increasingly predatory economic policies and assertive military actions, the choice is no longer that of camps, but of “distinct visions,” he said.
“The choice is between partnership or hegemony, independence or dependence, complete sovereignty or coercion, international laws and norms or unilateral claims,” he said.
Additional reporting by CNA
ROLLER-COASTER RIDE: More than five earthquakes ranging from magnitude 4.4 to 5.5 on the Richter scale shook eastern Taiwan in rapid succession yesterday afternoon Back-to-back weather fronts are forecast to hit Taiwan this week, resulting in rain across the nation in the coming days, the Central Weather Administration said yesterday, as it also warned residents in mountainous regions to be wary of landslides and rockfalls. As the first front approached, sporadic rainfall began in central and northern parts of Taiwan yesterday, the agency said, adding that rain is forecast to intensify in those regions today, while brief showers would also affect other parts of the nation. A second weather system is forecast to arrive on Thursday, bringing additional rain to the whole nation until Sunday, it
CONDITIONAL: The PRC imposes secret requirements that the funding it provides cannot be spent in states with diplomatic relations with Taiwan, Emma Reilly said China has been bribing UN officials to obtain “special benefits” and to block funding from countries that have diplomatic ties with Taiwan, a former UN employee told the British House of Commons on Tuesday. At a House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee hearing into “international relations within the multilateral system,” former Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) employee Emma Reilly said in a written statement that “Beijing paid bribes to the two successive Presidents of the [UN] General Assembly” during the two-year negotiation of the Sustainable Development Goals. Another way China exercises influence within the UN Secretariat is
CHINA REACTS: The patrol and reconnaissance plane ‘transited the Taiwan Strait in international airspace,’ the 7th Fleet said, while Taipei said it saw nothing unusual The US 7th Fleet yesterday said that a US Navy P-8A Poseidon flew through the Taiwan Strait, a day after US and Chinese defense heads held their first talks since November 2022 in an effort to reduce regional tensions. The patrol and reconnaissance plane “transited the Taiwan Strait in international airspace,” the 7th Fleet said in a news release. “By operating within the Taiwan Strait in accordance with international law, the United States upholds the navigational rights and freedoms of all nations.” In a separate statement, the Ministry of National Defense said that it monitored nearby waters and airspace as the aircraft
Taiwan’s first drag queen to compete on the internationally acclaimed RuPaul’s Drag Race, Nymphia Wind (妮妃雅), was on Friday crowned the “Next Drag Superstar.” Dressed in a sparkling banana dress, Nymphia Wind swept onto the stage for the final, and stole the show. “Taiwan this is for you,” she said right after show host RuPaul announced her as the winner. “To those who feel like they don’t belong, just remember to live fearlessly and to live their truth,” she said on stage. One of the frontrunners for the past 15 episodes, the 28-year-old breezed through to the final after weeks of showcasing her unique