The core objective of the US partnership with Taiwan is to ensure that the island is “strong and confident, and free from coercion and threat,” a senior Pentagon official reportedly told the US-Taiwan Defense Industry Conference.
Only when it acts from a position of strength can Taipei engage in productive dialogue with Beijing to equitably and peacefully merge differences, US Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Strategy Daniel Chiu said.
The conference was closed to the press and the Pentagon refused to provide a copy of Chiu’s remarks, but several different sources provided the Taipei Times with an outline of the keynote speech delivered on Monday. Overall, those attending the conference were reassured by Chiu’s words, which followed widespread discussion that the US had been neglecting Taiwan.
Chui said that the US’ obligation to Taiwan did not begin and end with arms sales. Washington’s overall defense cooperation was broader and more consequential than any single dimension of it, he said, adding that Taiwan needed to focus its planning and procurement efforts on a nontraditional, innovative and asymmetric approach.
Defense reforms to date were important and necessary, but were not sufficient, Chiu said.
The preservation of peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait is fundamental to broader US strategic interests, chief among them the promotion of peace and prosperity in the Asia-Pacific region, Chiu said.
As part of a broad defense and security system agenda, the US constantly engages with Taiwan in evaluating, assessing and reviewing its defense needs. The US supported Taiwan’s military modernization efforts.
Security is a necessary precondition to peace and prosperity, and it is crucial that Taiwan’s defense force had the capability to defend the nation, he said.
It is important for Taiwan to have the military personnel, equipment and training that would make an aggressor pause before using threat or force for the purpose of coercion or aggression, he added.
Beijing could eventually see a full amphibious invasion of Taiwan as the only "prudent" way to bring about unification, the US Department of Defense said in a newly released annual report to Congress. The Pentagon's "Annual Report to Congress: Military and Security Developments Involving the People's Republic of China 2025," was in many ways similar to last year’s report but reorganized the analysis of the options China has to take over Taiwan. Generally, according to the report, Chinese leaders view the People's Liberation Army's (PLA) capabilities for a Taiwan campaign as improving, but they remain uncertain about its readiness to successfully seize
Taiwan is getting a day off on Christmas for the first time in 25 years. The change comes after opposition parties passed a law earlier this year to add or restore five public holidays, including Constitution Day, which falls on today, Dec. 25. The day marks the 1947 adoption of the constitution of the Republic of China, as the government in Taipei is formally known. Back then the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) governed China from Nanjing. When the KMT, now an opposition party in Taiwan, passed the legislation on holidays, it said that they would help “commemorate the history of national development.” That
Taiwan has overtaken South Korea this year in per capita income for the first time in 23 years, IMF data showed. Per capita income is a nation’s GDP divided by the total population, used to compare average wealth levels across countries. Taiwan also beat Japan this year on per capita income, after surpassing it for the first time last year, US magazine Newsweek reported yesterday. Across Asia, Taiwan ranked fourth for per capita income at US$37,827 this year due to sustained economic growth, the report said. In the top three spots were Singapore, Macau and Hong Kong, it said. South
Snow fell on Yushan (Jade Mountain, 玉山) yesterday morning as a continental cold air mass sent temperatures below freezing on Taiwan’s tallest peak, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. Snowflakes were seen on Yushan’s north peak from 6:28am to 6:38am, but they did not fully cover the ground and no accumulation was recorded, the CWA said. As of 7:42am, the lowest temperature recorded across Taiwan was minus-5.5°C at Yushan’s Fengkou observatory and minus-4.7°C at the Yushan observatory, CWA data showed. On Hehuanshan (合歡山) in Nantou County, a low of 1.3°C was recorded at 6:39pm, when ice pellets fell at Songsyue Lodge (松雪樓), a
RSS