President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) on Friday told a large gathering of Taiwanese expats in Denver, Colorado, that Taiwan would not succumb to pressure, but would continue to safeguard its freedoms, democracy and sovereignty.
“Many of you here today are concerned about Taiwan’s future,” Tsai said, addressing the 700-plus Taiwanese guests at a banquet held in her honor during her stopover in Denver on the return leg of her visit to Taiwan’s four diplomatic allies in the Caribbean.
Many people are anxious because China is perceived as closing in on Taiwan and has resorted to a carrot-and-stick approach to pressure Taiwan’s 23 million people into accepting its “one country, two systems” model, Tsai said, mostly in English, but with some Mandarin and Hoklo (commonly known as Taiwanese) thrown in.
Photo: CNA
Feelings of anxiety have been heightened by the sight of Hong Kong gradually losing its freedoms and democracy, she said, referring to massive protest triggered by an extradition bill that would allow the Hong Kong government to extradite criminal suspects to China.
“That has us worried about whether Taiwan’s sovereignty and democracy will also disappear,” Tsai said at the banquet, which was also attended by American Institute in Taiwan Chairman James Moriarty, Colorado Governor Jared Polis, US Senator Cory Gardner and US Representative Doug Lamborn.
Tsai said that China’s suppression of Taiwan has been evident throughout her trip, including several complaints that Beijing lodged with the US government.
It has also shown up as information warfare, or disinformation, used to infiltrate Taiwanese society, she said.
“Next year will be a critical time for us to safeguard Taiwan’s democracy,” Tsai said, urging Taiwanese expats to return home next year to vote.
Solidarity is needed in the fight to protect Taiwan’s democracy and way of life for future generations, said Tsai, who is seeking re-election.
Arriving at about 3pm on Friday in Denver — the last leg of her 12-day overseas visit, including a stopover in New York City — Tsai and her delegation were received by Moriarty and Representative to the US Stanley Kao (高碩泰).
Prior to Tsai’s arrival, hundreds of Taiwanese expats had gathered outside the Hilton Denver City Center, where she was to stay.
Many waved the national flags of the Republic of China and the US, while others held banners that read: “Taiwan,” or bore slogans such as “Freedom and democracy, safeguard Taiwan.”
About a dozen Chinese protesters demonstrated near the hotel, waiving the People’s Republic of China national flag and chanting: “One China.”
No clashes occurred.
Tsai’s itinerary yesterday included visits to the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, a US federal laboratory dedicated to renewable energy development, and the National Center for Atmospheric Research, which developed Formosat-7, the second satellite cluster jointly built by Taiwan and the US.
She is scheduled to arrive in Taiwan tomorrow.
Former Czech Republic-based Taiwanese researcher Cheng Yu-chin (鄭宇欽) has been sentenced to seven years in prison on espionage-related charges, China’s Ministry of State Security announced yesterday. China said Cheng was a spy for Taiwan who “masqueraded as a professor” and that he was previously an assistant to former Cabinet secretary-general Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰). President-elect William Lai (賴清德) on Wednesday last week announced Cho would be his premier when Lai is inaugurated next month. Today is China’s “National Security Education Day.” The Chinese ministry yesterday released a video online showing arrests over the past 10 years of people alleged to be
THE HAWAII FACTOR: While a 1965 opinion said an attack on Hawaii would not trigger Article 5, the text of the treaty suggests the state is covered, the report says NATO could be drawn into a conflict in the Taiwan Strait if Chinese forces attacked the US mainland or Hawaii, a NATO Defense College report published on Monday says. The report, written by James Lee, an assistant research fellow at Academia Sinica’s Institute of European and American Studies, states that under certain conditions a Taiwan contingency could trigger Article 5 of NATO, under which an attack against any member of the alliance is considered an attack against all members, necessitating a response. Article 6 of the North Atlantic Treaty specifies that an armed attack in the territory of any member in Europe,
LIKE FAMILY: People now treat dogs and cats as family members. They receive the same medical treatments and tests as humans do, a veterinary association official said The number of pet dogs and cats in Taiwan has officially outnumbered the number of human newborns last year, data from the Ministry of Agriculture’s pet registration information system showed. As of last year, Taiwan had 94,544 registered pet dogs and 137,652 pet cats, the data showed. By contrast, 135,571 babies were born last year. Demand for medical care for pet animals has also risen. As of Feb. 29, there were 5,773 veterinarians in Taiwan, 3,993 of whom were for pet animals, statistics from the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Agency showed. In 2022, the nation had 3,077 pediatricians. As of last
XINJIANG: Officials are conducting a report into amending an existing law or to enact a special law to prohibit goods using forced labor Taiwan is mulling an amendment prohibiting the importation of goods using forced labor, similar to the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA) passed by the US Congress in 2021 that imposed limits on goods produced using forced labor in China’s Xinjiang region. A government official who wished to remain anonymous said yesterday that as the US customs law explicitly prohibits the importation of goods made using forced labor, in 2021 it passed the specialized UFLPA to limit the importation of cotton and other goods from China’s Xinjiang Uyghur region. Taiwan does not have the legal basis to prohibit the importation of goods