Following in the footsteps of the US House of Representatives, a group of US senators on Thursday introduced a concurrent resolution reaffirming US commitment to Taiwan to mark the 40th anniversary of the Taiwan Relations Act (TRA).
The resolution was submitted by US Senator Cory Gardner, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Subcommittee on East Asia, the Pacific and International Cybersecurity Policy, along with Jim Risch, James Inhofe, Robert Menendez and Ed Markey.
The resolution reaffirms that the TRA, signed into law on April 10, 1979, and the “six assurances,” issued by then-US president Ronald Reagan in 1982, “are, and will remain, cornerstones of US relations with Taiwan.”
Photo: Bloomberg
The US should conduct regular transfers of defensive articles to Taiwan consistent with Taiwan’s national security requirements in accordance with existing law, including the Asia Reassurance Initiative Act of 2018, the resolution states.
It also encourages US officials at all levels to travel to meet with their counterparts in Taiwan, and for high-level Taiwanese officials to enter the US and meet with US officials, in accordance with the Taiwan Travel Act.
It calls upon the US secretary of state to engage internationally in support of Taiwan’s meaningful participation in international organizations, and urges the US president to explore opportunities to expand and deepen bilateral economic and trade relations with Taiwan.
Gardner said in a statement that he has for many years been committed to strengthening the relationship between the US and Taiwan, and boosting Taiwan’s role on the international stage.
He reiterated that the US would continue to speak out for Taiwan and its people, as guided by US law, including the TRA, the Taiwan Travel Act and the Asia Reassurance Initiative Act.
Markey, who was already a senator when the TRA was being drafted, said that he would continue to cooperate with his colleagues across party lines to fulfill the responsibility of bolstering relations between the people of the US and Taiwan.
Risch said that despite continued pressure from China, he looks forward to a long-standing partnership between the US and Taiwan, because the two sides have strongly shared values, and economic and security interests.
Taiwan’s representative office in the US thanked the US Congress for its support of Taiwan’s sovereignty, freedom and democracy, as well as security in the Taiwan Strait.
UKRAINE, NVIDIA: The US leader said the subject of Russia’s war had come up ‘very strongly,’ while Jenson Huang was hoping that the conversation was good Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) and US President Donald Trump had differing takes following their meeting in Busan, South Korea, yesterday. Xi said that the two sides should complete follow-up work as soon as possible to deliver tangible results that would provide “peace of mind” to China, the US and the rest of the world, while Trump hailed the “great success” of the talks. The two discussed trade, including a deal to reduce tariffs slapped on China for its role in the fentanyl trade, as well as cooperation in ending the war in Ukraine, among other issues, but they did not mention
Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi yesterday lavished US President Donald Trump with praise and vows of a “golden age” of ties on his visit to Tokyo, before inking a deal with Washington aimed at securing critical minerals. Takaichi — Japan’s first female prime minister — pulled out all the stops for Trump in her opening test on the international stage and even announced that she would nominate him for a Nobel Peace Prize, the White House said. Trump has become increasingly focused on the Nobel since his return to power in January and claims to have ended several conflicts around the world,
REASSURANCE: The US said Taiwan’s interests would not be harmed during the talk and that it remains steadfast in its support for the nation, the foreign minister said US President Donald Trump on Friday said he would bring up Taiwan with Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) during a meeting on the sidelines of the APEC Summit in South Korea this week. “I will be talking about Taiwan [with Xi],” Trump told reporters before he departed for his trip to Asia, adding that he had “a lot of respect for Taiwan.” “We have a lot to talk about with President Xi, and he has a lot to talk about with us. I think we’ll have a good meeting,” Trump said. Taiwan has long been a contentious issue between the US and China.
Taiwan’s first African swine fever (ASF) case has been confirmed and would soon be reported to the World Organization for Animal Health (WOAH), Minister of Agriculture Chen Junne-jih (陳駿季) yesterday. The Ministry of Agriculture’s Veterinary Research Institute yesterday completed the analysis of samples collected on Tuesday from dead pigs at a hog farm in Taichung and found they were ASF-positive. Animal and Plant Health Inspection Agency Animal Quarantine Division chief Lin Nien-nung (林念農) said the result would be reported to the WOAH and Taiwan’s major trade partners would also be notified, adding that pork exports would be suspended. As of Friday, all samples
RSS