Two members of US Congress — Republican Representative Michael McCaul from Texas and Democratic Representative Shelley Berkley from Nevada — are commemorating the 30th anniversary of former US president Ronald Reagan’s “six assurances” and the 25th anniversary of the lifting of martial law in Taiwan by entering special statements in the US Congressional Record.
Both representatives said they were acting “to further underline our unwavering commitment and affirm our support for the strong and deepening relationship between the US and Taiwan.”
Reagan issued the “six assurances” on July 14, 1982, to reaffirm US policy toward Taiwan and stipulate that the US would not pressure Taiwan to negotiate with China. On the same date, five years later, then-president Chiang Ching-kuo (蔣經國) lifted martial law in Taiwan. It had been in place for 38 years — the longest period of rule by martial law of any regime in the world.
“The coincidence in dates of these two critical junctures in Taiwan’s history, five years apart, highlights the indispensable role that the US and the Taiwan Relations Act each played in the island’s democratization,” Formosa Association for Public Affairs president Mark Kao (高龍榮) said.
“Beijing does not believe in the legitimacy of either the ‘six assurances’ or the Taiwan Relations Act because both documents fly in the face of its aspiration to annex Taiwan by force,” Kao said.
McCaul and Berkley said in their Congressional statements: “The people of Taiwan continue to live day after day under the ominous shadow cast by over 1,400 short and medium-range ballistic missiles that China has aimed at them.”
“The PRC [People’s Republic of China] persists in claiming Taiwan as a ‘renegade province’ refusing to renounce the use of force to prevent Taiwan’s formal de jure independence,” they added.
Three batches of banana sauce imported from the Philippines were intercepted at the border after they were found to contain the banned industrial dye Orange G, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said yesterday. From today through Sept. 2 next year, all seasoning sauces from the Philippines are to be subject to the FDA’s strictest border inspection, meaning 100 percent testing for illegal dyes before entry is allowed, it said in a statement. Orange G is an industrial coloring agent that is not permitted for food use in Taiwan or internationally, said Cheng Wei-chih (鄭維智), head of the FDA’s Northern Center for
The Chinese military has built landing bridge ships designed to expand its amphibious options for a potential assault on Taiwan, but their combat effectiveness is limited due to their high vulnerability, a defense expert said in an analysis published on Monday. Shen Ming-shih (沈明室), a research fellow at the Institute for National Defense and Security Research, said that the deployment of such vessels as part of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Navy’s East Sea Fleet signals a strong focus on Taiwan. However, the ships are highly vulnerable to precision strikes, which means they could be destroyed before they achieve their intended
LOOKING NORTH: The base would enhance the military’s awareness of activities in the Bashi Channel, which China Coast Guard ships have been frequenting, an expert said The Philippine Navy on Thursday last week inaugurated a forward operating base in the country’s northern most province of Batanes, which at 185km from Taiwan would be strategically important in a military conflict in the Taiwan Strait. The Philippine Daily Inquirer quoted Northern Luzon Command Commander Lieutenant General Fernyl Buca as saying that the base in Mahatao would bolster the country’s northern defenses and response capabilities. The base is also a response to the “irregular presence this month of armed” of China Coast Guard vessels frequenting the Bashi Channel in the Luzon Strait just south of Taiwan, the paper reported, citing a
About 4.2 million tourist arrivals were recorded in the first half of this year, a 10 percent increase from the same period last year, the Tourism Administration said yesterday. The growth continues to be consistent, with the fourth quarter of this year expected to be the peak in Taiwan, the agency said, adding that it plans to promote Taiwan overseas via partnerships and major events. From January to June, 9.14 million international departures were recorded from Taiwan, an 11 percent increase from the same period last year, with 3.3 million headed for Japan, 1.52 million for China and 832,962 to South Korea,
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