Taoyuan City Mayor Cheng Wen-tsan, invited by the U.S. Department of State and the Department of Commerce, attended GCTC Expo 2019 as a keynote speaker on the topic of international perspectives during the opening plenary session. The theme of this year’s expo is “Smart and Secure Cities and Communities.”
Mayor Cheng stated that Taoyuan is a gateway city of Taiwan. According to statistics last year (2018), Taoyuan International Airport is the 8th busiest airport by cargo traffic and 11th busiest by passenger traffic (44.88 million passengers) worldwide. Taoyuan is active in developing “airport economics” and it is expected that after the completion of the Aerotropolis project, the capacity of Taoyuan Airport will be hugely enhanced and investments will be stimulated. In addition, Taoyuan Aerotropolis is comprehensive in industry clusters, gathering innovative industries, smart medicine, the aerospace industry, logistics, biotechnology, IoT, and other industries.
Smart city, smart mayor
Mayor Cheng pointed out that Taoyuan has a population of 2.23 million and within five years, the city government has issued more than 1.35 million Taoyuan Citizen Cards. The card integrates over 60 functions such as traffic and identification, and provides citizens a convenient way of living. In smart classrooms, teachers can utilize touch pads to assist their teaching, and students are encouraged to have hands-on experience to cultivate critical thinking and creativity. Taoyuan Digital Education Cloud is established to gather shared resources so that teachers and students in remote areas or unable to physically go to classes can still learn via the cloud. In addition, Taoyuan also utilizes big data and smart devices in policing, fire, water resources, and air pollution to make city governance more efficient.
Deputy Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Manufacturing Ian Steff expresses his gratitude to Mayor Cheng for coming all the way to Washington D.C. as the keynote speaker on international perspectives at GCTC. During their meeting, Steff expressed how he values exchange between U.S. enterprises and Taiwan, and exchanged with Mayor Cheng opinions on business and trade issues such as the aerospace industry, smart city, 5G applications, and intellectual property protection.
Public photo with Speaker of House of Representatives marks milestone in U.S.-Taiwan diplomacy
During this trip, Mayor Cheng met with Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi on the afternoon of July 11, and the two took a precious photo together. Mayor Cheng expresses his gratitude to Speaker Nancy Pelosi for her support for Taiwan in various fields. In addition, Mayor Cheng also met with many members of the House of Representatives, including Eddie Bernice Johnson, Dina Titus, Lance Gooden, Marc Veasey, Colin Allred, Mike Levin, Gil Cisneros, Ted Lieu, Mark Takano, Jimmy Gomez, Karen Bass, Maxine Waters, Eliot Engel, Ted Yoho, Michael McCaul, Steve Chabot, and former Chairman of the United States House Committee on Foreign Affairs Ed Royce.
During his visit in Washington D.C., Mayor Cheng gave a public speech at the Wilson Center under the topic “Threats and Opportunities of Taiwan’s Democracy in the US Indo-Pacific Strategy.” Mayor Cheng shared how Taiwan, at the forefront under the Indo-Pacific strategy, should face China. China influences Taiwan hugely with a variety of approaches such as diplomatic blockade, military threat, and infiltration as a means to unification. Therefore, reducing China’s influence and reinforcing Taiwan’s self-defense mechanism has become a new challenge.
Tsai Ing-wen and Cheng Wen-tsan jointly attend US-Taiwan Business Summit
Taoyuan City Mayor Cheng Wen-tsan, along with famous Taoyuan local enterprises such as Gogoro and Garmin invited by him, attended on the morning of July 12 the US-Taiwan Business Summit in New York. Mayor Cheng stated that after the US-China trade war, the global supply chain has gradually transferred from China to the United States. According to statistics in the first half of this year (2019), the amount of Taiwan’s electronic products shipping directly to the United States has increased 20%. The United States also sees Taiwan as a reliable business partner that protects intellectual property rights. He believes that in the future, there will be flourishing trade and business exchange between Taiwan and the United States. Taiwan, under the Indo-Pacific strategy led by the United States, is not only a democratic partner, but also an indispensable strategic partner and a reliable technology partner.
Mayor Cheng also attended with President Tsai Ing-wen several public events in New York. The Mayor also held a casual seminar with overseas Taiwanese students in Columbia University. The students brought up many questions regarding Taiwan’s democracy and are concerned about the 2020 presidential election and the impact of misinformation.
Airport economics
Mayor Cheng also visited Dallas County Judge Clay Jenkins at the county government. Taoyuan City and Dallas County signed the sister city agreement in 2007; airports and rapid transit companies of the two cities are also partners. Taoyuan and Dallas are both airport cities and Dallas Fort Worth International Airport is one of the largest airports in the United States and the headquarter of American Airlines. Both cities hope to facilitate more exchange in trade and businesses. Mayor Cheng is scheduled to return to Taiwan from Seattle on the early morning of July 17, and will visit Boeing and Seattle–Tacoma International Airport with representatives of Taoyuan International Airport, China Airlines, and EVA Air.
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