Taiwan and the US yesterday announced the establishment of an annual dialogue mechanism on democratic governance in the Indo-Pacific region, which would serve as a regular occasion for both sides to explore ways to assist other countries in the area in addressing governance challenges.
The creation of the Indo-Pacific Democratic Governance Consultations was announced by Minister of Foreign Affairs Joseph Wu (吳釗燮) and American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) Director Brent Christensen in a rare joint appearance at a news conference at the ministry in Taipei.
Good governance is one of the three pillars of the Indo-Pacific strategy of US President Donald Trump’s administration, Christensen said in his speech.
Photo: Liu Hsin-de, Taipei Times
“The US and Taiwan share the belief that advancing transparency and rule of law in the region in turn contributes to the goal of a free, open and prosperous Indo-Pacific region,” he said, adding that the common conviction that all people deserve fundamental freedoms has served as an important basis for Washington’s partnership with Taipei.
The annual dialogue is to be held in either of the two nations on a rotational basis, with the first one expected to take place in September in Taipei, with a delegation led by a senior official from the US Department of State’s Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor attending, Christensen said.
The goal is for both sides to explore ways to increase bilateral cooperation and pursue joint projects in the region that assist other countries in addressing the governance challenges of the day, he said.
Wu said the annual meetings would not only involve government officials from Taiwan and the US, as officials from other countries in the region would also be invited to make a contribution.
“As I said in a speech at the Los Angeles World Affairs Council last week, authoritarian regimes and illiberal populist movements have been attacking democracies. A smokeless ideological war is happening around us right now,” Wu said.
Taiwan has been on the front line of defending democracy and freedom, Wu said, adding that the government and its people have not only endeavored to safeguard their own democratic achievements, but are also willing to contribute to the world, and help defend the international order and universal values.
As the creation of the consultative mechanism coincides with a year-long celebration by both sides to mark the 40th anniversary of the US’ Taiwan Relations Act, it marks an important milestone for Taiwan-US cooperation on promoting shared values of democracy and freedom, he said.
Asked whether the mechanism was established as a signal to China that it should do things differently, Christensen said it was not created to provoke Beijing.
The initiatives that the US takes with Taiwan should be interpreted as just that, he said, adding that the China factor should be a separate issue.
A Taiwanese official, who requested anonymity, said the idea of creating a democratic governance consultative mechanism was proposed by US Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor Deputy Assistant Secretary Scott Busby during his visit to Taiwan in October last year.
While Taiwan and the US already enjoy many dialogue mechanisms — including on security — most of them cannot be made public, the official said.
“That was why the [Taiwanese] government was delighted to learn of Washington’s decision to publicly announce the creation of the new democracy governance consultation mechanism,” he said.
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the world’s largest foundry service provider, yesterday said that global semiconductor revenue is projected to hit US$1.5 trillion in 2030, after the figure exceeds US$1 trillion this year, as artificial intelligence (AI) demand boosts consumption of token and compute power. “We are still at the beginning of the AI revolution, but we already see a significant impact across the whole semiconductor ecosystem,” TSMC deputy cochief operating officer Kevin Zhang (張曉強) said at the company’s annual technology symposium in Hsinchu City. “It is fair to say that in the past decade, smartphones and other mobile devices were
US-CHINA SUMMIT: MOFA welcomed US reassurance of no change in its Taiwan policy; Trump said he did not comment when Xi talked of opposing independence US President Donald Trump yesterday said he has not made a decision on whether to move forward with a major arms package for Taiwan after hearing concerns about it from Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平). Trump’s comments on Taiwan came as he flew back to Washington after wrapping up critical talks in which both leaders said important progress was made in stabilizing US-China relations even as deep differences persist between the world’s two biggest powers on Iran and Taiwan. “I will make a determination,” Trump said, adding: “I’ll be making decisions. But, you know, I think the last thing we need right
TAIWAN ISSUE: US treasury secretary Scott Bessent said on the first day of meetings that ‘it wouldn’t be a US-China summit without the Taiwan issue coming up’ There were no surprises on the first day of the summit between US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平), the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said yesterday, as the government reiterated that cross-strait stability is crucial to the Asia-Pacific region, as well as the world. As the two presidents met for a highly anticipated summit yesterday, Chinese state media reported that Xi warned Trump that missteps regarding Taiwan could push their two countries into “conflict.” Trump arrived in China with accolades for his host, calling Xi a “great leader” and “friend,” and extending an invitation to visit the White House
SECURITY: Taipei presses the US for arms supplies, saying the arms sales are not only a reflection of the US security commitment to Taiwan but also serve as a mutual deterrent against regional threats Taiwan is committed to preserving the cross-strait “status quo” and contributing to regional peace and stability, the Presidential Office said yesterday. “It is an undeniable fact that the Republic of China is a sovereign and independent democratic nation,” Presidential Office spokeswoman Karen Kuo (郭雅慧) reiterated, adding that Beijing has no right to claim sovereignty over Taiwan. The statements came after US President Donald Trump warned against Taiwanese independence. Trump wrapped up a state visit to Beijing on Friday, during which Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) had pressed him not to support Taiwan. Taiwan depends heavily on US security backing to deter China from carrying
RSS