US President Donald Trump’s appointment of John Bolton as his national security adviser might lead to more visits by high-level US officials to Taiwan, former American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) director Stephen Young said on Saturday.
In an interview with the Central News Agency, Young said the US government would try to have “more frequent visits and higher level visits” following the passage of the Taiwan Travel Act, which encourages Taiwanese and US officials at all levels to visit each other.
While the Trump administration can implement the act at its discretion, the appointment of Bolton, “who knows Taiwan well ... could make it easier to get concrete decisions and actions on that score,” Young said.
Bolton is considered to be an outspoken supporter of Taiwan, and he has recommended that the US increase arms sales to the nation and station troops there.
However, his hawkish disposition has some worried about how he might shake up US military policy as part of Trump’s team.
Young said several times during the interview that visits, no matter the rank of the official, were always possible, even prior to the act’s passage, and the bill simply highlights the importance the US attaches to these exchanges.
They have also been extremely rare. When then-US Environmental Protection Agency administrator Gina McCarthy traveled to Taiwan in 2014, she was the first Cabinet-level US official to visit the nation in 14 years. No other official of that level has visited since.
The upcoming opening of the AIT’s new compound in Taipei’s Neihu District (內湖) might prompt a visit by a high-level US official.
Young, who scouted the plot and helped with the initial blueprints, said it “would be appropriate ... and make sense” for high-level US officials to attend the event.
The AIT, which represents US interests in Taiwan in the absence of formal diplomatic ties, has said that the new office would open in the summer.
“I personally think it would be great if [the US government] had a Cabinet level official with some relevance to Taiwan issues come here” for the ceremony, Young said.
SPACE VETERAN: Kjell N. Lindgren, who helps lead NASA’s human spaceflight missions, has been on two expeditions on the ISS and has spent 311 days in space Taiwan-born US astronaut Kjell N. Lindgren is to visit Taiwan to promote technological partnerships through one of the programs organized by the US for its 250th national anniversary. Lindgren would be in Taiwan from Tuesday to Saturday next week as part of the US Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs’ US Speaker Program, organized to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) said in a statement yesterday. Lindgren plans to engage with key leaders across the nation “to advance cutting-edge technological partnerships and inspire the next generation of scientists and engineers,”
UNREASONABLE SURVEILLANCE: A camera targeted on an road by a neighbor captured a man’s habitual unsignaled turn into home, netting him dozens of tickets The Taichung High Administrative Court has canceled all 45 tickets given to a man for failing to use a turn signal while driving, as it considered long-term surveillance of his privacy more problematic than the traffic violations. The man, surnamed Tseng (曾), lives in Changhua County and was reported 45 times within a month for failing to signal while driving when he turned into the alley where his residence is. The reports were filed by his neighbor, who set up security cameras that constantly monitored not only the alley but also the door and yard of Tseng’s house. The surveillance occurred from July
A Japan Self-Defense Forces vessel entered the Taiwan Strait yesterday, Japanese media reported. After passing through the Taiwan Strait, the Ikazuchi was to proceed to the South China Sea to take part in a joint military exercise with the US and the Philippines, the reports said. Japan Self-Defense Force vessels were first reported to have passed through the strait in September, 2024, with two further transits taking place in February and June last year, the Asahi Shimbun reported. Yesterday’s transit also marked the first time since Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi took office that a Japanese warship has been sent through the Taiwan
‘SAME OLD TRICK’: Even if Beijing resumes individual travel to Taiwan, it would only benefit Chinese tourism companies, the Economic Democracy Union convener said China’s 10 new “incentives” are “sugar-coated poison,” an official said yesterday, adding that Taiwanese businesses see them clearly for what they are, but that Beijing would inevitably find some local collaborators to try to drums up support. The official, speaking on condition of anonymity, made the remark ahead of a news conference the General Chamber of Commerce is to hold today. The event, titled “Industry Perspectives on China’s Recent Pro-Taiwan Policies,” is expected to include representatives from industry associations — such as those in travel, hotels, food and agriculture — to request the government cooperate with China’s new measures, people familiar with
RSS