The US Senate on Tuesday unanimously passed Concurrent Resolution 13 reaffirming the US’ commitment to Taiwan and to the implementation of its Taiwan Relations Act (TRA).
The US House of Representatives version of the resolution was passed by the House Foreign Affairs Committee on April 9.
The resolution was introduced on April 4 by US Senator Cory Gardner, chairman of the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee’s Subcommittee on East Asia, the Pacific and International Cybersecurity Policy.
Photo: Chang Chia-ming, Taipei Times
It was cosponsored by Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman James Risch, Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman James Inhofe and US senators Robert Menendez and Edward Markey, among others.
Besides recognizing the TRA and the “six assurances” as the “cornerstones of United States relations with Taiwan,” the resolution encourages mutual visits between Taiwanese and US officials at all levels in accordance with the US’ Taiwan Travel Act.
In the resolution, the US Senate “reiterates that the president should conduct regular transfers of defense articles to Taiwan,” “calls upon the secretary of state to actively engage internationally in support of Taiwan’s meaningful participation in international organizations,” and “urges the president to explore opportunities to expand and deepen bilateral economic and trade relations with Taiwan.”
President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) yesterday said that the resolution’s passage was an “important expression of the US Congress’ attitude.”
The resolution shows that relations between Taiwan and the US are at their best, she said.
“The efforts of the government have been allowing the US and other [members of the] international community to work together with Taiwan to protect values shared internationally, and to become partners in the goal of regional peace and stability,” Tsai said.
Many countries in the region see Taiwan as an “indispensable partner,” she added.
The passage of “Taiwan-friendly resolutions” by the US Congress carries significant meaning in a year when the TRA is celebrating its 40th anniversary, yet China is attempting to “force ‘one country, two systems’ on Taiwan, dispatching military aircraft across the median line of the Taiwan Strait to engage in provocation and publicly destroying the cross-strait ‘status quo,’” the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office in the US said.
Additional reporting by Aaron Tu
CROSS-STRAIT COLLABORATION: The new KMT chairwoman expressed interest in meeting the Chinese president from the start, but she’ll have to pay to get in Beijing allegedly agreed to let Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairwoman Cheng Li-wun (鄭麗文) meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) around the Lunar New Year holiday next year on three conditions, including that the KMT block Taiwan’s arms purchases, a source said yesterday. Cheng has expressed interest in meeting Xi since she won the KMT’s chairmanship election in October. A source, speaking on condition of anonymity, said a consensus on a meeting was allegedly reached after two KMT vice chairmen visited China’s Taiwan Affairs Office Director Song Tao (宋濤) in China last month. Beijing allegedly gave the KMT three conditions it had to
STAYING ALERT: China this week deployed its largest maritime show of force to date in the region, prompting concern in Taipei and Tokyo, which Beijing has brushed off Deterring conflict over Taiwan is a priority, the White House said in its National Security Strategy published yesterday, which also called on Japan and South Korea to increase their defense spending to help protect the first island chain. Taiwan is strategically positioned between Northeast and Southeast Asia, and provides direct access to the second island chain, with one-third of global shipping passing through the South China Sea, the report said. Given the implications for the US economy, along with Taiwan’s dominance in semiconductors, “deterring a conflict over Taiwan, ideally by preserving military overmatch, is a priority,” it said. However, the strategy also reiterated
‘BALANCE OF POWER’: Hegseth said that the US did not want to ‘strangle’ China, but to ensure that none of Washington’s allies would be vulnerable to military aggression Washington has no intention of changing the “status quo” in the Taiwan Strait, US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth said on Saturday, adding that one of the US military’s main priorities is to deter China “through strength, not through confrontation.” Speaking at the annual Reagan National Defense Forum in Simi Valley, California, Hegseth outlined the US Department of Defense’s priorities under US President Donald Trump. “First, defending the US homeland and our hemisphere. Second, deterring China through strength, not confrontation. Third, increased burden sharing for us, allies and partners. And fourth, supercharging the US defense industrial base,” he said. US-China relations under
The Chien Feng IV (勁蜂, Mighty Hornet) loitering munition is on track to enter flight tests next month in connection with potential adoption by Taiwanese and US armed forces, a government source said yesterday. The kamikaze drone, which boasts a range of 1,000km, debuted at the Taipei Aerospace and Defense Technology Exhibition in September, the official said on condition of anonymity. The Chungshan Institute of Science and Technology and US-based Kratos Defense jointly developed the platform by leveraging the engine and airframe of the latter’s MQM-178 Firejet target drone, they said. The uncrewed aerial vehicle is designed to utilize an artificial intelligence computer
RSS