Taiwan has been staunchly anti-communist and has actively taken part in efforts to help end communism and advance freedom and democracy worldwide, Taiwan's top representative in the US said on Thursday.
In an interview with the Washington Post, David Lee (
Lee, who was also invited to attend a groundbreaking ceremony the day before marking the beginning of the VOC Foundation's construction of a permanent statue and plaza in Washington, said it is particularly significant that the VOC Memorial Plaza will feature a 3m bronze replica of the "Democracy" statue erected by Chinese students in Tiananmen Square in 1989 and based on the US Statue of Liberty.
Lee said the "Democracy" statue to be erected on Capitol Hill will serve as a reminder that the fight against communism is not over yet.
Taiwan, in particular, should support the foundation's efforts because it is located on the front line facing communist China, he said. He added that this is the reason why he decided to attend the groundbreaking ceremony held on Wednesday.
At the groundbreaking ceremony, the hosts addressed Taiwan as the Republic of China, and all related literature available at the ceremony indicated that both Taiwan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Taiwan Foundation for Democracy were co-sponsors of the construction of the VOC Statue and Plaza.
The groundbreaking took place at the memorial site on Massachusetts Avenue.
The Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation is a non-profit organization established by an Act of Congress to build a memorial in the US capital to commemorate the more than 100 million victims of communism, to honor those who successfully resisted communist tyranny and to pay tribute to those who helped win the Cold War.
Taiwan is to receive the first batch of Lockheed Martin F-16 Block 70 jets from the US late this month, a defense official said yesterday, after a year-long delay due to a logjam in US arms deliveries. Completing the NT$247.2 billion (US$7.69 billion) arms deal for 66 jets would make Taiwan the third nation in the world to receive factory-fresh advanced fighter jets of the same make and model, following Bahrain and Slovakia, the official said on condition of anonymity. F-16 Block 70/72 are newly manufactured F-16 jets built by Lockheed Martin to the standards of the F-16V upgrade package. Republic of China
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