The attendance of the head of the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office (TECO) in New York at Monday’s keynote speech on protecting religious freedom at UN headquarters was a “remarkable diplomatic breakthrough,” Premier Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) said yesterday.
It was the first time that a representative of Taiwan formally took part in a UN event since the Republic of China withdrew from the UN in 1971, Su said.
Su made the remarks at the Legislative Yuan when asked by Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Lu Sun-ling (呂孫綾) about reports that TECO in New York Director-General Lily Hsu (徐儷文) attended a speech by US President Donald Trump, which was also attended by UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, US Vice President Mike Pence and US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.
Photo courtesy of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs via CNA
Minister of Foreign Affairs Joseph Wu (吳釗燮) said that the New York office received an invitation on Monday to attend the US-hosted — not UN-hosted — Global Call to Protect Religious Freedom event at the UN in New York City, where member states are meeting for the annual UN General Assembly.
Calling it “very good news,” Wu said that the nation’s participation in the event attested to warming Taiwan-US ties, and showed the world that Taiwan is a nation that champions freedom and democracy.
The nation was invited for its achievements in upholding religious freedom, which is something Taiwanese should be proud of, he added.
Despite the nation’s diplomatic plight, Taiwan-US relations have greatly improved and have remained stable thanks to efforts by President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文), Su said.
This is evidenced by the US Congress’ passage of the National Defense Authorization Act, the Taiwan Travel Act and the Asia Reassurance Initiative Act, as well as the US Department of State’s sanctioning of the sale of M1A2 Abrams tanks and F-16V jets to Taiwan, Su said.
The jets would be the most advanced fighters the nation has acquired in 23 years, he added.
To buy the fleet of 66 F-16V jets, the Cabinet set aside a special budget of NT$250 billion, which on Monday passed a preliminary review by the Legislative Yuan’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee.
Su called on the legislature to support international exchanges which the government engages in, especially exchanges with the US, which would leverage Taiwan's exchanges with other nations.
LONG FLIGHT: The jets would be flown by US pilots, with Taiwanese copilots in the two-seat F-16D variant to help familiarize them with the aircraft, the source said The US is expected to fly 10 Lockheed Martin F-16C/D Block 70/72 jets to Taiwan over the coming months to fulfill a long-awaited order of 66 aircraft, a defense official said yesterday. Word that the first batch of the jets would be delivered soon was welcome news to Taiwan, which has become concerned about delays in the delivery of US arms amid rising military tensions with China. Speaking on condition of anonymity, the official said the initial tranche of the nation’s F-16s are rolling off assembly lines in the US and would be flown under their own power to Taiwan by way
‘OF COURSE A COUNTRY’: The president outlined that Taiwan has all the necessary features of a nation, including citizens, land, government and sovereignty President William Lai (賴清德) discussed the meaning of “nation” during a speech in New Taipei City last night, emphasizing that Taiwan is a country as he condemned China’s misinterpretation of UN Resolution 2758. The speech was the first in a series of 10 that Lai is scheduled to give across Taiwan. It is the responsibility of Taiwanese citizens to stand united to defend their national sovereignty, democracy, liberty, way of life and the future of the next generation, Lai said. This is the most important legacy the people of this era could pass on to future generations, he said. Lai went on to discuss
MISSION: The Indo-Pacific region is ‘the priority theater,’ where the task of deterrence extends across the entire region, including Taiwan, the US Pacific Fleet commander said The US Navy’s “mission of deterrence” in the Indo-Pacific theater applies to Taiwan, Pacific Fleet Commander Admiral Stephen Koehler told the South China Sea Conference on Tuesday. The conference, organized by the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), is an international platform for senior officials and experts from countries with security interests in the region. “The Pacific Fleet’s mission is to deter aggression across the Western Pacific, together with our allies and partners, and to prevail in combat if necessary, Koehler said in the event’s keynote speech. “That mission of deterrence applies regionwide — including the South China Sea and Taiwan,” he
UNPRECEDENTED: In addition to the approved recall motions, cases such as Ma Wen-chun’s in Nantou are still under review, while others lack enough signatures The Central Election Commission (CEC) announced yesterday that a recall vote would take place on July 26, after it approved the first batch of recall motions targeting 24 Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) lawmakers and Hsinchu Mayor Ann Kao (高虹安). Taiwan is in the midst of an unprecedented wave of mass recall campaigns, following a civil society push that echoed a call made by Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) caucus whip Ker Chien-ming (柯建銘) in January to initiate signature drives aimed at unseating KMT legislators. Under the Civil Servants Election and Recall Act (公職人員選舉罷免法), Taiwanese can initiate a recall of district-elected lawmakers by collecting
RSS