The Republican Party of Texas is calling for full diplomatic recognition of Taiwan “as an independent and sovereign nation.”
The party’s Platform Resolution Committee earlier this month unanimously passed the Taiwan resolution and it has now been adopted as part of this year’s Texas Republican Party manifesto.
It will eventually be considered by the party at a national level and while it has little chance of being adopted as the policy for a future Republican president, it reflects the party’s sympathies and support for Taiwan.
“We urge Congress to work with the Taiwanese government to preserve and enhance the human rights of all people,” the resolution says.
Party insiders said that the human rights wording was a direct reference to the case of former president Chen Shui-bian’s (陳水扁) continued incarceration on a corruption conviction despite his dire medical condition. There is a lot of support in Texas for Chen’s release on medical parole.
Texas Senator John Cornyn, a Republican, has led the fight in Washington to sell new F-16 C/D jets to Taiwan, but has been unable to convince US President Barack Obama’s administration.
The F-16 is built by Lockheed Martin and most of the manufacturing and assembly takes place in Texas. A sale of up to 66 F-16s to Taiwan could mean thousands of jobs for Texas.
“In the face of China’s aggressive military modernization and the belligerent attitude towards Taiwan, these F-16 fighters have become increasingly important and also highly symbolic for Taiwan,” Cornyn said in a statement last year.
“I have been disappointed that Taiwan seems to have backed off of its pursuit for new F-16s, especially after so many of its friends in Congress went out on a limb to help them,” he added. “When it comes to Taiwan’s military capabilities, there seems to be a puzzling sense of complacency in Taipei. Taiwan needs to wake up and realize that, as the threat from China grows, so grows Taiwan’s vulnerability.”
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
Taiwan-Japan Travel Passes are available for use on public transit networks in the two countries, Taoyuan Metro Corp said yesterday, adding that discounts of up to 7 percent are available. Taoyuan Metro, the Taipei MRT and Japan’s Keisei Electric Railway teamed up to develop the pass. Taoyuan Metro operates the Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport MRT Line, while Keisei Electric Railway offers express services between Tokyo’s Narita Airport, and the Keisei Ueno and Nippori stations in the Japanese capital, as well as between Narita and Haneda airports. The basic package comprises one one-way ticket on the Taoyuan MRT Line and one Skyliner ticket on
A new tropical storm formed late yesterday near Guam and is to approach closest to Taiwan on Thursday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. Tropical Storm Pulasan became the 14th named storm of the year at 9:25pm yesterday, the agency said. As of 8am today, it was near Guam traveling northwest at 21kph, it said. The storm’s structure is relatively loose and conditions for strengthening are limited, WeatherRisk analyst Wu Sheng-yu (吳聖宇) said on Facebook. Its path is likely to be similar to Typhoon Bebinca, which passed north of Taiwan over Japan’s Ryukyu Islands and made landfall in Shanghai this morning, he said. However, it
Starlux Airlines, Taiwan’s newest international carrier, has announced it would apply to join the Oneworld global airline alliance before the end of next year. In an investor conference on Monday, Starlux Airlines chief executive officer Glenn Chai (翟健華) said joining the alliance would help it access Taiwan. Chai said that if accepted, Starlux would work with other airlines in the alliance on flight schedules, passenger transits and frequent flyer programs. The Oneworld alliance has 13 members, including American Airlines, British Airways, Cathay Pacific and Qantas, and serves more than 900 destinations in 170 territories. Joining Oneworld would also help boost