A Taiwan-born American naval officer will become a spokeswoman for the US Pacific Command starting in July, military sources announced on Friday.
Jensin W. Sommer (
She said in an interview that she will be very pleased to take her new assignment in Hawaii next month.
"Hawaii is closer to Taiwan, where I still have many relatives," said Sommer, who is now a naval press officer at the US Department of Defense.
Sommer graduated from the US Naval Academy 10 years ago and was promoted to the rank of lieutenant commander on Friday.
She also just received a master's degree in political science from a Catholic university in Washington, DC earlier this week.
Sommer's father, Weng Yi-hsiung (
"Jensin was always impressed by the brilliance and smartness of the white uniforms of the female cadets.
"This might be a reason behind her decision to pursue a military career," said Weng, who works for the public health department of the Maryland State Government.
Weng originally took part in a US Navy-sponsored subtropical disease research program in Taiwan.
In 1976, he went to the US for advanced study on a US Navy scholarship and later obtained US residency.
Sommer said she was lucky to have grown up in the US, adding that she chose a military career partly out of her wish to contribute to the country.
Her husband is also a naval academy graduate.
She further said she has fond memories of her childhood in Taiwan and that part of her mind and heart "will be left in Taiwan" forever.
Sommer said she is always very happy whenever she reads or hears of information about Taiwan.
"I also take pride in Taiwan's progress in various fields in recent years," she added.
In the future, she said she hopes she can do something to help boost Taiwan-US relations.
She last visited her Taiwan relatives in 1994.
While Sommer was studying at the US Naval Academy, she and several of her classmates also once paid a visit to Taiwan which was arranged by Taiwan's naval authorities.
The Ministry of Transportation and Communications yesterday inaugurated the Danjiang Bridge across the Tamsui River in New Taipei City, saying that the structure would be an architectural icon and traffic artery for Taiwan. Feted as a major engineering achievement, the Danjiang Bridge is 920m long, 211m tall at the top of its pylon, and is the longest single-pylon asymmetric cable-stayed bridge in the world, the government’s Web site for the structure said. It was designed by late Iraqi-British architect Zaha Hadid. The structure, with a maximum deck of 70m, accommodates road and light rail traffic, and affords a 200m navigation channel for boats,
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the world’s largest foundry service provider, yesterday said that global semiconductor revenue is projected to hit US$1.5 trillion in 2030, after the figure exceeds US$1 trillion this year, as artificial intelligence (AI) demand boosts consumption of token and compute power. “We are still at the beginning of the AI revolution, but we already see a significant impact across the whole semiconductor ecosystem,” TSMC deputy cochief operating officer Kevin Zhang (張曉強) said at the company’s annual technology symposium in Hsinchu City. “It is fair to say that in the past decade, smartphones and other mobile devices were
US-CHINA SUMMIT: MOFA welcomed US reassurance of no change in its Taiwan policy; Trump said he did not comment when Xi talked of opposing independence US President Donald Trump yesterday said he has not made a decision on whether to move forward with a major arms package for Taiwan after hearing concerns about it from Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平). Trump’s comments on Taiwan came as he flew back to Washington after wrapping up critical talks in which both leaders said important progress was made in stabilizing US-China relations even as deep differences persist between the world’s two biggest powers on Iran and Taiwan. “I will make a determination,” Trump said, adding: “I’ll be making decisions. But, you know, I think the last thing we need right
TAIWAN ISSUE: US treasury secretary Scott Bessent said on the first day of meetings that ‘it wouldn’t be a US-China summit without the Taiwan issue coming up’ There were no surprises on the first day of the summit between US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平), the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said yesterday, as the government reiterated that cross-strait stability is crucial to the Asia-Pacific region, as well as the world. As the two presidents met for a highly anticipated summit yesterday, Chinese state media reported that Xi warned Trump that missteps regarding Taiwan could push their two countries into “conflict.” Trump arrived in China with accolades for his host, calling Xi a “great leader” and “friend,” and extending an invitation to visit the White House
RSS