The AIT Kaohsiung Branch Office covers the Kaohsiung, Chiayi, Tainan, Pingtung, Taitung and Penghu areas in southern Taiwan. This area, roughly one third of the island, has a population of over six million people, including approximately 5,000 American citizens.
US-affiliated organizations in the district include the Kaohsiung American Chamber of Commerce, the Kaohsiung American School, the Morrison Academy and the Sun Yat-sen America Center at National Sun Yat-sen University.
The objectives of the AIT Kaohsiung Branch Office (AIT/K) are to maintain and enhance commercial, economic, political and cultural contacts in southern Taiwan; to promote US products and services in Taiwan's industrial heartland; to provide AIT Taipei and Washington with insights into political and economic trends and attitudes in southern Taiwan, especially as these differ from those in Taipei; and to assist US citizens residing in southern Taiwan. US citizens are encouraged to register at the office, which maintains a warden system to communicate with the community in the event of an emergency. For details call tel. (07) 238-7744.
To celebrate US Independence Day 2002, AIT/K is supporting the Kaohsiung Amcham in organizing the traditional community carnival to be held at Kaohsiung Labor Park on July 7, from 2:00-7:30 pm. The celebration is open to the public and will feature musical and cultural entertainment, games, a raffle drawing and American-style food and drink, with a star-spangled fireworks exhibition to conclude the festivities. For information call (07) 566-8856.
Meanwhile, an "American Week" consumer products show is underway at the Mitsukoshi Department Store on Chungshan Rd in Tainan from July 3-17. Over 50 US suppliers of name brand consumer products are expected to participate in the show.
NO-LIMITS PARTNERSHIP: ‘The bottom line’ is that if the US were to have a conflict with China or Russia it would likely open up a second front with the other, a US senator said Beijing and Moscow could cooperate in a conflict over Taiwan, the top US intelligence chief told the US Senate this week. “We see China and Russia, for the first time, exercising together in relation to Taiwan and recognizing that this is a place where China definitely wants Russia to be working with them, and we see no reason why they wouldn’t,” US Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines told a US Senate Committee on Armed Services hearing on Thursday. US Senator Mike Rounds asked Haines about such a potential scenario. He also asked US Defense Intelligence Agency Director Lieutenant General Jeffrey Kruse
INSPIRING: Taiwan has been a model in the Asia-Pacific region with its democratic transition, free and fair elections and open society, the vice president-elect said Taiwan can play a leadership role in the Asia-Pacific region, vice president-elect Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴) told a forum in Taipei yesterday, highlighting the nation’s resilience in the face of geopolitical challenges. “Not only can Taiwan help, but Taiwan can lead ... not only can Taiwan play a leadership role, but Taiwan’s leadership is important to the world,” Hsiao told the annual forum hosted by the Center for Asia-Pacific Resilience and Innovation think tank. Hsiao thanked Taiwan’s international friends for their long-term support, citing the example of US President Joe Biden last month signing into law a bill to provide aid to Taiwan,
China’s intrusive and territorial claims in the Indo-Pacific region are “illegal, coercive, aggressive and deceptive,” new US Indo-Pacific Commander Admiral Samuel Paparo said on Friday, adding that he would continue working with allies and partners to keep the area free and open. Paparo made the remarks at a change-of-command ceremony at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam in Hawaii, where he took over the command from Admiral John Aquilino. “Our world faces a complex problem set in the troubling actions of the People’s Republic of China [PRC] and its rapid buildup of forces. We must be ready to answer the PRC’s increasingly intrusive and
STATE OF THE NATION: The legislature should invite the president to deliver an address every year, the TPP said, adding that Lai should also have to answer legislators’ questions The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) yesterday proposed inviting president-elect William Lai (賴清德) to make a historic first state of the nation address at the legislature following his inauguration on May 20. Lai is expected to face many domestic and international challenges, and should clarify his intended policies with the public’s representatives, KMT caucus secretary-general Hung Meng-kai (洪孟楷) said when making the proposal at a meeting of the legislature’s Procedure Committee. The committee voted to add the item to the agenda for Friday, along with another similar proposal put forward by the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP). The invitation is in line with Article 15-2