US Representative Ed Royce, a strong supporter of Taiwan, has been officially chosen to become the next chairman of the US House of Representatives’ Committee on Foreign Affairs.
It is an important appointment for Taipei because the committee chairman controls hearings and is strongly positioned to promote the legislation that he favors.
A Republican, Royce is taking over from another supporter of Taiwan, Representative Ileana Ros-Lehtinen.
House Republicans impose a six-year term limit on the committee chairperson and Ros-Lehtinen’s tenure was up.
Republican leaders picked Royce over Representative Chris Smith.
Royce has co-sponsored six pro-Taiwan pieces of legislation over the past two years and is a founding member of the Congressional Taiwan Caucus.
He has fought hard, but unsuccessfully, for a free-trade agreement (FTA) for Taiwan and has co-sponsored Taiwan FTA bills.
One such bill managed to pass the House Committee on Foreign Affairs a few years ago.
“The truth is that trade is very important to Taiwanese security,” Royce said.
“Security isn’t based on weapons alone. It may be wishful thinking with this administration and Congress, but I’d like to see movement on a free-trade agreement with Taiwan. Certainly, if we throw up trade barriers, it would significantly destabilize Taiwan’s economy. Let’s not give free trade short shrift,” he added.
As committee chairman he will almost certainly continue to promote an FTA with Taiwan, but the administration of US President Barack Obama is unlikely to get behind the idea and FTA legislation would probably be killed in the Senate.
Royce is also a strong proponent of the sale of F-16C/D aircraft to Taiwan.
“Taiwan faces one of the most complex and lethal military threats in the world,” the US representative said recently.
“Across the region, in response to China’s buildup and increasing assertiveness, China’s neighbors are moving to strengthen their security relationships with the US. This gravitation to the US will only last as long as the US is seen as a credible guarantor of stability. Moving forward with this F-16 sale would be an appropriate signal to Taiwan and to the region,” Royce added.
When former president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) visited the US, Royce co-sponsored a resolution welcoming him.
Recently, Royce wrote to President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) calling for medical parole for Chen, who is serving an 18-and-a-half-year prison sentence for corruption.
“I have worked closely with Ed over the past years and I know he will be able to lead our committee through the tough foreign policy challenges that face our country,” Ros-Lehtinen said.
She said that Royce’s leadership and determination would help guide US foreign policy “in the right direction” to better serve the interests of the people.
“Ed Royce truly cares about the best interests of Taiwan,” Formosa Association for Public Affairs official Coen Blaauw said. “He will do whatever he can to help the island [Taiwan].”
TRAFFIC SAFETY RULES: A positive result in a drug test would result in a two-year license suspension for the driver and vehicle, and a fine of up to NT$180,000 The Ministry of Transportation and Communications is to authorize police to conduct roadside saliva tests by the end of the year to deter people from driving while under the influence of narcotics, it said yesterday. The ministry last month unveiled a draft of amended regulations governing traffic safety rules and penalties, which included provisions empowering police to conduct mandatory saliva tests on drivers. While currently rules authorize police to use oral fluid testing kits for signs of drug use, they do not establish penalties for noncompliance or operating procedures for officers to follow, the ministry said. The proposed changes to the regulations require
Taipei, New Taipei City, Keelung and Taoyuan would issue a decision at 8pm on whether to cancel work and school tomorrow due to forecasted heavy rain, Keelung Mayor Hsieh Kuo-liang (謝國樑) said today. Hsieh told reporters that absent some pressing reason, the four northern cities would announce the decision jointly at 8pm. Keelung is expected to receive between 300mm and 490mm of rain in the period from 2pm today through 2pm tomorrow, Central Weather Administration data showed. Keelung City Government regulations stipulate that school and work can be canceled if rain totals in mountainous or low-elevation areas are forecast to exceed 350mm in
EVA Airways president Sun Chia-ming (孫嘉明) and other senior executives yesterday bowed in apology over the death of a flight attendant, saying the company has begun improving its health-reporting, review and work coordination mechanisms. “We promise to handle this matter with the utmost responsibility to ensure safer and healthier working conditions for all EVA Air employees,” Sun said. The flight attendant, a woman surnamed Sun (孫), died on Friday last week of undisclosed causes shortly after returning from a work assignment in Milan, Italy, the airline said. Chinese-language media reported that the woman fell ill working on a Taipei-to-Milan flight on Sept. 22
1.4nm WAFERS: While TSMC is gearing up to expand its overseas production, it would also continue to invest in Taiwan, company chairman and CEO C.C. Wei said Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC) has applied for permission to construct a new plant in the Central Taiwan Science Park (中部科學園區), which it would use for the production of new high-speed wafers, the National Science and Technology Council said yesterday. The council, which supervises three major science parks in Taiwan, confirmed that the Central Taiwan Science Park Bureau had received an application on Friday from TSMC, the world’s largest contract chipmaker, to commence work on the new A14 fab. A14 technology, a 1.4 nanometer (nm) process, is designed to drive artificial intelligence transformation by enabling faster computing and greater power
RSS