President Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) transit through the US after her visit to three of Taiwan’s Pacific allies is standard practice, the US Department of State said on Thursday.
“President Tsai’s transit through the United States is based on long-standing US practice, and is consistent with the unofficial nature of our relations with Taiwan,” the department said in a statement.
Tsai on Thursday arrived in Palau on the first stop of her eight-day trip to Palau, Nauru and the Marshall Islands, her sixth overseas visit and her second trip to the nation’s Pacific allies since taking office in May 2016.
Photo: CNA
She is scheduled to stay in Palau until today and Nauru from tomorrow to Monday, before arriving in the Marshall Islands on Tuesday for the first-ever Pacific Women Leaders’ Coalition Conference, which is to be held on Tuesday and Wednesday, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said.
The president is to fly from the Marshall Islands to Hawaii for a stopover on Wednesday, and is scheduled to arrive in Taiwan at 8:20pm on Thursday, the ministry said.
“These transits are undertaken out of consideration for the safety, comfort, convenience and dignity of the traveler,” the department said.
“There has been no change to the US’ ‘one China’ policy, which is based on the Three Joint Communiques and the Taiwan Relations Act,” it said.
The Taiwan Relations Act was enacted in 1979 after Washington severed ties with Taipei, with the aim of defining future unofficial relations between the US and Taiwan.
“President Tsai’s transits will be private and unofficial,” the department said.
American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) Chairman James Moriarty is to greet Tsai when she arrives in Hawaii, it said, emphasizing that the AIT is the institution that carries out Washington’s unofficial ties with Taipei.
The statement reiterated that the US encourages authorities in Taiwan and China to “engage in constructive dialogue that seeks a peaceful resolution of differences acceptable to the people of both sides of the Taiwan Strait.”
In Palau yesterday, Tsai met with Palauan President Tommy Remengesau.
The two participated in a tree-planting ceremony, during which Tsai planted a Jinhuang mango sapling and Remengesau planted an Irwin mango sapling to represent the two nations’ close ties.
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