US House Committee on Foreign Affairs Chairman Ed Royce has promised Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Chairperson Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) that he will support Taiwan’s efforts to be included in the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) free-trade agreement.
During her ongoing five-day visit to Washington, Tsai has said that TPP membership is vital for the nation’s economy.
Following a closed-door meeting with Tsai on Thursday, Royce said that one of the most important ways the US Congress could help Taiwan was to back its vibrant democracy and that Taiwan needed to be included in TPP.
“Also, I reiterated my commitment to press the administration to come to a decision on helping Taiwan acquire diesel submarines,” he said.
Later, Tsai met with the US-Taiwan Business Council, with former US deputy secretary of state Richard Armitage, and attended a rally and banquet organized by a group of leading Taiwanese Americans.
At an event on Wednesday, former assistant secretary of state Kurt Campbell asked Tsai how she would help unify Taiwan’s “deeply divided society.”
She said that if elected to the presidency next year, she would run an open and transparent government and would increase the quality and quantity of non-governmental organizations (NGOs).
Tsai said the NGOs would facilitate dialogue between the government and the public.
“After the Sunflower movement, there has been a rise of third forces in Taiwan and I think this is a good development in the sense that public awareness has been increased and people want to participate in the decisionmaking process,” she said.
Tsai said the environment in Taiwan was very different from when she last ran for the presidency and that her campaign had developed better communications so that “our intentions will not be distorted or misunderstood.”
Tsai said that while some people have reservations about electing a woman president, the younger generation has been generally excited about the idea.
“They think it is rather trendy,” she said.
Tsai said that the business culture in Taiwan has to change so that business leaders become less afraid of failure.
“We will need to change the legal infrastructure to suit the needs of an innovation-based economy,” she said.
Campbell asked Tsai for her views on Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平).
“I have to answer this question very carefully,” Tsai said.
“I like the idea of his anti-corruption campaign. I admire his courage. To many observers, he seems to be rather rough and not that prepared to exercise flexibility,” she said.
“I hope he has a better understanding of the situation in Taiwan and also an understanding of Taiwan as a democracy,” she said.
The donation of offshore patrol vessel Kinmen to the Philippines includes provisions that protect Taiwanese fishers and facilitate security cooperation across the First Island Chain, officials said yesterday. The comment was made during the Cabinet’s comprehensive administrative report at the legislature after Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Hsu Yu-chen (許宇甄) expressed concerns about the decision to give a ship to a country whose coast guard had in 2013 fired on a Taiwanese trawler and killed its captain without provocation. The Cabinet should lay out the safeguards that have been established to prevent the Philippine government from using the Kinmen to harass, expel
GROWING TIES: The CGA is planning a goodwill mission to the Philippines, in what would be the first time since 1975 a Taiwanese paramilitary vessel has visited the country The Coast Guard Administration (CGA) plans to significantly expand its participation in international security cooperative frameworks and its operational capabilities, a budget proposal for next year showed. The budget indicates a transformation of the CGA from a maritime law enforcement arm into a national defense and intelligence gathering entity capable of tackling larger regional security matters. The proposal showed that personnel from the coast guard’s Intelligence Division and Special Action Support Center are to participate in high-level national security talks with the US. As the CGA has dealt with China’s rising “gray zone” threats around Taiwan, it has become a valuable asset to
A patrol vessel donated by the Coast Guard Administration (CGA) to the Philippines was commissioned into the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) on Friday, a Philippine non-governmental organization said. The CGA on Sept. 16 confirmed media reports that Taiwan had donated a retired 500-tonne patrol vessel to the Philippines. The Manila-based We Protect Our Seas (WPS) foundation, which served as an intermediary in the transfer, said that the vessel was formerly the CGA’s 500-tonne petrol vessel Kinmen (CG123). The WPS, in a statement issued on Friday, said the vessel, renamed as the BRP Sarangani, had been commissioned into the PCG the
The Coast Guard Administration (CGA) today said that two of its patrol vessels have docked at Palau's Malakal Harbor as part of an expedition exercise and diplomatic visit, during which a senior official is expected to meet with the Palauan president. The two vessels, the 4,000-tonne-class Chiayi (嘉義) and the 1,000-tonne-class Penghu (澎湖), set sail for Palau from Taiwan last week and arrived at Malakal Harbor yesterday, the CGA's Fleet Branch said in a statement. The journey marked the second time the CGA has dispatched a "Friendship Fleet" to another country, after it sent its first-ever goodwill fleet, comprising the Hualien (花蓮)
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