US President Donald Trump has yet to decide whether to veto or sign into law the Taiwan Travel Act, which would promote meetings and visits between high-ranking US and Taiwanese officials, White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said on Thursday.
“The final decision hasn’t been made — we’ll keep you guys posted,” Huckabee Sanders told a news briefing in response to a question on Trump’s plan as yesterday’s deadline approached.
The bill was presented to Trump on March 5, after clearing the US House of Representatives on Jan. 9 and the US Senate on Feb. 28, US congressional records showed.
Based on US legislative rules, it would become law as soon as it is signed by the president or automatically become law after 10 days, excluding Sundays, if he does not sign.
The bill would be struck down only if Trump vetoes it, but analysts say the chances of that are slim, given that it was passed unanimously by both the Senate and the House.
Separately, US Pacific Command (UPSACOM) head Admiral Harry Harris Jr on Thursday said that the command would continue to support Taiwan’s efforts to increase its self-defense capabilities through regular arms sales and military training.
Harris told the US Senate Armed Services Committee about the ever-growing importance of Taiwan’s defense capabilities in the face of China’s growing military spending and capabilities.
In line with the Taiwan Relations Act, “UPSACOM will continue supporting Taiwan’s efforts to develop a credible, resilient and cost-effective deterrent and self-defense capability,” he said, emphasizing regular arms sales and training for Taiwan’s military.
Harris urged the US to continue helping Taiwan enhance its defense capabilities, while showing resolve that “any attempt by China to force reunification on the people of Taiwan is unacceptable.”
He listed recent sales of a number of weapons, including anti-ballistic missiles, anti-aircraft weapons and surveillance radar, as helping to increase Taiwan’s defense capabilities.
In addition, Taiwan and the US have made it clear since Trump’s inauguration last year that they are interested in maintaining regular arm sales, he added.
Minister of National Defense Yen De-fa (嚴德發) on the same day reiterated the nation’s interest in buying F-35 jets from the US.
Taiwanese were praised for their composure after a video filmed by Taiwanese tourists capturing the moment a magnitude 7.5 earthquake struck Japan’s Aomori Prefecture went viral on social media. The video shows a hotel room shaking violently amid Monday’s quake, with objects falling to the ground. Two Taiwanese began filming with their mobile phones, while two others held the sides of a TV to prevent it from falling. When the shaking stopped, the pair calmly took down the TV and laid it flat on a tatami mat, the video shows. The video also captured the group talking about the safety of their companions bathing
US climber Alex Honnold is to attempt to scale Taipei 101 without a rope and harness in a live Netflix special on Jan. 24, the streaming platform announced on Wednesday. Accounting for the time difference, the two-hour broadcast of Honnold’s climb, called Skyscraper Live, is to air on Jan. 23 in the US, Netflix said in a statement. Honnold, 40, was the first person ever to free solo climb the 900m El Capitan rock formation in Yosemite National Park — a feat that was recorded and later made into the 2018 documentary film Free Solo. Netflix previewed Skyscraper Live in October, after videos
Starting on Jan. 1, YouBike riders must have insurance to use the service, and a six-month trial of NT$5 coupons under certain conditions would be implemented to balance bike shortages, a joint statement from transportation departments across Taipei, New Taipei City and Taoyuan announced yesterday. The rental bike system operator said that coupons would be offered to riders to rent bikes from full stations, for riders who take out an electric-assisted bike from a full station, and for riders who return a bike to an empty station. All riders with YouBike accounts are automatically eligible for the program, and each membership account
A classified Pentagon-produced, multiyear assessment — the Overmatch brief — highlighted unreported Chinese capabilities to destroy US military assets and identified US supply chain choke points, painting a disturbing picture of waning US military might, a New York Times editorial published on Monday said. US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth’s comments in November last year that “we lose every time” in Pentagon-conducted war games pitting the US against China further highlighted the uncertainty about the US’ capability to intervene in the event of a Chinese invasion of Taiwan. “It shows the Pentagon’s overreliance on expensive, vulnerable weapons as adversaries field cheap, technologically
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