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.
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,
COGNITIVE WARFARE: Chinese fishing boats transmitting fake identification signals are meant to test Taiwan’s responses to different kinds of perceived incursions, a report said Chinese vessels are transmitting fake signals in Taiwan’s waters as a form of cognitive warfare, testing Taipei’s responses to various types of incursions, a report by the Institute for the Study of War said on Friday. Several Chinese fishing vessels transmitted fake automatic identification system (AIS) signals in Taiwan’s waters last month, with one mimicking a Russian warship and another impersonating a Chinese law enforcement vessel, the report said. Citing data from Starboard Maritime Intelligence, the report said that throughout August and last month, the Chinese fishing boat Minshiyu 06718 (閩獅漁06718) sailed through the Taiwan Strait while intermittently transmitting its own AIS
CHINESE INFILTRATION: Medical logistics is a lifeline during wartime and the reported CCP links of a major logistics company present a national security threat, an expert said The government would bolster its security check system to prevent China from infiltrating the nation’s medical cold chain, a national security official said yesterday. The official, who wished to stay anonymous, made the remarks after the Chinese-language magazine Mirror Media (鏡周刊) reported that Pharma Logistics (嘉里醫藥物流) is in charge of the medical logistics of about half of the nation’s major hospitals, including National Taiwan University Hospital and Taipei Veterans General Hospital. The company’s parent, Kerry TJ Logistics Co (嘉里大榮物流), is associated with the National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) and the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA), the
RSS