Young hails bilateral ties

American Institute in Taiwan Director Stephen Young and Minister of Foreign Affairs James Huang raise their glasses in a toast during a party celebrating the US' Independence Day at the Grand Hyatt Taipei yesterday. PHOTO: CHAO-SHIH-HSUN, TAIPEI TIMES

American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) Director Stephen Young yesterday hailed the long-enduring and vibrant relations between the US and Taiwan in a celebration to mark the US' Independence Day.

"Viva US-Taiwan relations," Young said yesterday in Taiwanese at the end of his speech while proposing a toast to the continued friendship between the two nations. Young made the remarks yesterday at Taipei's Grand Hyatt Hotel in a celebration of the 230th birthday of the US.

Government officials attending yesterday's reception included Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng (王金平), Minister of Foreign Affairs James Huang (黃志芳) and National Security Council Secretary-General Chiou I-jen (邱義仁).

The US' top envoy in Taiwan yesterday hailed democracy and freedom, the core founding values of the US as something that Taiwan had also experimented with in the last four decades.

He said he remained optimistic about Taiwan's future and the people's ability to handle challenges after witnessing the transformation of Taiwanese society in the last 40 years.