US Senator Ted Cruz on Wednesday said he has a signed a letter to House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi, urging her to invite President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) to visit Washington and give an address to the US Congress.
During a question-and-answer session after he gave a speech at the American Enterprise Institute in Washington on the Senate’s role in US foreign policy, Cruz was asked by a Central News Agency reporter how he would like to see the US’ Taiwan Travel Act enforced, and if he supported a visit by Tsai this year.
Cruz was a cosponsor of the act, which encourages visits by high-level US and Taiwanese officials.
Photo: Bloomberg
“Yes, I support President Tsai coming and delivering a speech to Congress. I just recently signed a letter, urging the Speaker of the House to invite her,” he said.
A meeting with Tsai in Houston, Texas, last year during her stopover on a trip to Central America was “positive and beneficial,” he said.
Before the meeting, the Chinese government had sent him a letter asking him not to meet with Tsai, he said.
“Anyone who knows me would know that such a correspondence is unlikely to be successful,” he said.
“But I had great fun responding to that letter, explaining to the government of China that I would meet with whoever I damn well please. They have no authority to dictate who I meet with any more than I have authority to dictate who they meet with,” he said.
Taiwan is “an extraordinary story of standing up against Chinese oppression and creating an economic jewel and powerhouse,” he said.
Anyone wanting an illustration of whether freedom or totalitarianism works can compare Taiwan and China side by side, he added.
Serving on the US Senate Armed Services Committee, he has worked to be a leading defender of Taiwan by introducing legislation — some of which has been passed — to strengthen the US’ relationship with Taiwan, he said.
China is one of the US’ rivals and “has constantly pressed Taiwan into submission, and tried to stifle Taiwan and maintain the fiction of the “one China” policy,” he said.
In his speech, Cruz said US allies can be divided into four categories: friends, enemies, rivals and problematic allies, adding that Israel, Japan, South Korea and Taiwan are friends.
Iran is an enemy, and the possibility of a nuclear-armed Iran is the greatest national security threat facing the US and the world, and North Korea falls into this category as well, as North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has threatened to launch nuclear weapons at the US, he said.
Turkey and Saudi Arabia are problematic allies, and the killing of Saudi Arabian journalist Jamal Khashoggi was a “horrific, state-sponsored murder,” he said.
China is the US’ top geopolitical rival, followed by Russia, he said, adding that he was glad that liberals have recently discovered the true nature of these states.
“Dealing with China is fraught with risks, from espionage to full-borne military threats. For too long we failed to acknowledge the risks from China,” he said.
Cruz said that he has introduced and helped pass legislation barring the US Department of State from funding Beijing’s Confucius Institutes, as well as discontinuing China’s participation in the Rim of the Pacific military exercises.
“We need to make sure that we maintain military presence to deter them, and should be prepared to use sanctions and diplomatic pressure if necessary,” he said.
“We need to make sure Taiwan, Japan, Ukraine are protected from these hostile rivals,” he said, adding that he has pushed for more port calls and sharing of military information with Taiwan.
The manufacture of the remaining 28 M1A2T Abrams tanks Taiwan purchased from the US has recently been completed, and they are expected to be delivered within the next one to two months, a source said yesterday. The Ministry of National Defense is arranging cargo ships to transport the tanks to Taiwan as soon as possible, said the source, who is familiar with the matter. The estimated arrival time ranges from late this month to early next month, the source said. The 28 Abrams tanks make up the third and final batch of a total of 108 tanks, valued at about NT$40.5 billion
Travel agencies in Taiwan are working to secure alternative flights for travelers bound for New Zealand for the Lunar New Year holiday, as Air New Zealand workers are set to strike next week. The airline said that it has confirmed that the planned industrial action by its international wide-body cabin crew would go ahead on Thursday and Friday next week. While the Auckland-based carrier pledged to take reasonable measures to mitigate the impact of the workers’ strike, an Air New Zealand flight arriving at Taipei from Auckland on Thursday and another flight departing from Taipei for Auckland on Saturday would have to
A group from the Taiwanese Designers in Australia association yesterday represented Taiwan at the Midsumma Pride March in Melbourne. The march, held in the St. Kilda suburb, is the city’s largest LGBTQIA+ parade and the flagship event of the annual Midsumma Festival. It attracted more than 45,000 spectators who supported the 400 groups and 10,000 marchers that participated this year, the association said. Taiwanese Designers said they organized a team to march for Taiwan this year, joining politicians, government agencies, professionals and community organizations in showing support for LGBTQIA+ people and diverse communities. As the first country in Asia to legalize same-sex
MOTIVES QUESTIONED The PLA considers Xi’s policies toward Taiwan to be driven by personal considerations rather than military assessment, the Epoch Times reports Chinese President Xi Jinping’s (習近平) latest purge of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) leadership might have been prompted by the military’s opposition to plans of invading Taiwan, the Epoch Times said. The Chinese military opposes waging war against Taiwan by a large consensus, putting it at odds with Xi’s vision, the Falun Gong-affiliated daily said in a report on Thursday, citing anonymous sources with insight into the PLA’s inner workings. The opposition is not the opinion of a few generals, but a widely shared view among the PLA cadre, the Epoch Times cited them as saying. “Chinese forces know full well that
RSS