Former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney, front-runner for the US Republican presidential nomination, has a distinctly pro-Taiwan political record.
He is in favor of selling F-16C/D aircraft to Taiwan and has criticized US President Barack Obama for refusing to do so.
Romney has also praised Taiwan for its vibrant economy and described it as “an independent democratic country” that is not part of China.
Following the Iowa caucus elections on Tuesday night — which Romney won by a razor-thin eight-vote margin over former Pennsylvania senator Rick Santorum — the -former governor is heavily favored to win the New Hampshire primary election on Tuesday.
At this early stage in the nominating contest, many analysts now believe that the three leading Republican candidates are Romney, Santorum and Texas Congressman Ron Paul.
It is increasingly likely that the Republicans will pick one of these three to face Obama — widely considered to be vulnerable — in the November election.
Santorum also has a solid pro-Taiwan record, but Paul, with his Libertarian views, would be unlikely to offer much significant support to Taipei under almost any circumstances.
Many responsible analysts think it is unlikely that Paul will win the nomination, but he could run as an independent and capture enough votes to scuttle the chances of either Romney or Santorum.
In September, after it became clear that Obama would not sell F-16C/Ds to Taiwan, Romney said: “President Obama’s refusal to sell Taiwan new military jets is yet another example of his weak leadership in foreign policy.”
“Every American president for the past three decades — both Republican and Democrat — has recognized our interest in helping Taiwan defend itself,” he said.
“In the face of China’s intensive military buildup, the US needs the strongest possible partnerships in Asia. However, Obama has -ignored Taiwan’s request and caved in to the unreasonable demands of China,” he said.
Earlier, he wrote in his book No Apology: The Case For American Greatness that Taiwan was “not China.”
“It is an independent democratic country of 23 million people,” he wrote. “Taiwan holds free and fair elections, guards its citizens’ civil rights and political liberties, and is also a model of free enterprise, having the twentieth largest economy in the world.”
“If the people of Taiwan were to choose to unite with China, that would be their right, but that has never been the choice of a modern free Taiwan,” he said.
For his part, Santorum, while in the Senate, voted in favor of Taiwan being granted membership in multilateral economic institutions, including the IMF and the -International Bank of Reconstruction. He also voted to increase US security ties to Taiwan.
Santorum also signed a letter urging the White House to sell Taiwan “more advanced arms,” including submarines.
Paul’s voting record in Congress has been to oppose most US government initiatives abroad. He even refuses to support the annual resolution commemorating the anniversary of the Taiwan Relations Act.
“The bottom line is that the US commitment and security guarantees to Taiwan, no matter who occupies the White House, are rock-solid,” Formosan Association for Public Affairs executive director Coen Blaauw told the Taipei Times.
“It is interesting to note that support for Taiwan especially comes to the forefront when Congress and the president are from different parties,” he said.
An increase in Taiwanese boats using China-made automatic identification systems (AIS) could confuse coast guards patrolling waters off Taiwan’s southwest coast and become a loophole in the national security system, sources familiar with the matter said yesterday. Taiwan ADIZ, a Facebook page created by enthusiasts who monitor Chinese military activities in airspace and waters off Taiwan’s southwest coast, on Saturday identified what seemed to be a Chinese cargo container ship near Penghu County. The Coast Guard Administration went to the location after receiving the tip and found that it was a Taiwanese yacht, which had a Chinese AIS installed. Similar instances had also
GOOD DIPLOMACY: The KMT has maintained close contact with representative offices in Taiwan and had extended an invitation to Russia as well, the KMT said The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) would “appropriately handle” the fallout from an invitation it had extended to Russia’s representative to Taipei to attend its international banquet last month, KMT Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) said yesterday. US and EU representatives in Taiwan boycotted the event, and only later agreed to attend after the KMT rescinded its invitation to the Russian representative. The KMT has maintained long-term close contact with all representative offices and embassies in Taiwan, and had extended the invitation as a practice of good diplomacy, Chu said. “Some EU countries have expressed their opinions of Russia, and the KMT respects that,” he
VIGILANCE: The military is paying close attention to actions that might damage peace and stability in the region, the deputy minister of national defense said The People’s Republic of China (PRC) might consider initiating a hack on Taiwanese networks on May 20, the day of the inauguration ceremony of president-elect William Lai (賴清德), sources familiar with cross-strait issues said. While US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken’s statement of the US expectation “that all sides will conduct themselves with restraint and prudence in the period ahead” would prevent military actions by China, Beijing could still try to sabotage Taiwan’s inauguration ceremony, the source said. China might gain access to the video screens outside of the Presidential Office Building and display embarrassing messages from Beijing, such as congratulating Lai
Four China Coast Guard ships briefly sailed through prohibited waters near Kinmen County, Taipei said, urging Beijing to stop actions that endanger navigation safety. The Chinese ships entered waters south of Kinmen, 5km from the Chinese city of Xiamen, at about 3:30pm on Monday, the Coast Guard Administration said in a statement later the same day. The ships “sailed out of our prohibited and restricted waters” about an hour later, the agency said, urging Beijing to immediately stop “behavior that endangers navigation safety.” Ministry of National Defense spokesman Sun Li-fang (孫立方) yesterday told reporters that Taiwan would boost support to the Coast Guard