Washington wishes to see “free and fair” elections in Taiwan, a senior US Department of Defense official said on Tuesday, as Taiwanese prepare to cast their ballots in presidential and legislative elections on Saturday.
US Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Indo-Pacific Security Affairs David Helvey made the remark at a seminar in Washington when asked if the US and Japan are working to ensure that Taiwan would have fair elections, amid allegations that China has attempted to influence the outcome.
“We’ve been on record that certainly we want to see a free and fair election in Taiwan,” he said.
Photo: CNA
However, Helvey would not go into detail when asked whether Washington and Tokyo have prepared measures should China increase military and diplomatic pressure on Taiwan if President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) wins re-election.
“It is clear that the US-Japan alliance has identified peace and security in the Taiwan Strait as one of our top strategic objectives,” Helvey said, without providing further detail about the two countries’ alliance. “This is not a new development. This assignment has been consistent for well over a decade.”
Taiwanese are “aware of the potential of that sort of influence,” another senior Pentagon official said when asked about possible Chinese influence in the elections.
The key to resolving the problem of external interference in other nations’ affairs, such as elections, is to make populations aware that such things can happen, the official said on condition of anonymity.
The US has not seen any “nefarious activity” in Taiwan’s election process, the official said, adding that the process has been stable.
Washington’s goal is to “encourage a functioning and proven democratic process in Taiwan,” the official added.
“The US takes no interest in who wins,” the official said. “The fact that the process stays sacrosanct is what’s important, as it is in our own election process.”
Starlux Airlines, Taiwan’s newest international carrier, has announced it would apply to join the Oneworld global airline alliance before the end of next year. In an investor conference on Monday, Starlux Airlines chief executive officer Glenn Chai (翟健華) said joining the alliance would help it access Taiwan. Chai said that if accepted, Starlux would work with other airlines in the alliance on flight schedules, passenger transits and frequent flyer programs. The Oneworld alliance has 13 members, including American Airlines, British Airways, Cathay Pacific and Qantas, and serves more than 900 destinations in 170 territories. Joining Oneworld would also help boost
A new tropical storm formed late yesterday near Guam and is to approach closest to Taiwan on Thursday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. Tropical Storm Pulasan became the 14th named storm of the year at 9:25pm yesterday, the agency said. As of 8am today, it was near Guam traveling northwest at 21kph, it said. The storm’s structure is relatively loose and conditions for strengthening are limited, WeatherRisk analyst Wu Sheng-yu (吳聖宇) said on Facebook. Its path is likely to be similar to Typhoon Bebinca, which passed north of Taiwan over Japan’s Ryukyu Islands and made landfall in Shanghai this morning, he said. However, it
Taiwan's Gold Apollo Co (金阿波羅通信) said today that the pagers used in detonations in Lebanon the day before were not made by it, but by a company called BAC which has a license to use its brand. At least nine people were killed and nearly 3,000 wounded when pagers used by Hezbollah members detonated simultaneously across Lebanon yesterday. Images of destroyed pagers analyzed by Reuters showed a format and stickers on the back that were consistent with pagers made by Gold Apollo. A senior Lebanese security source told Reuters that Hezbollah had ordered 5,000 pagers from Taiwan-based Gold Apollo. "The product was not
COLD FACTS: ‘Snow skin’ mooncakes, made with a glutinous rice skin and kept at a low temperature, have relatively few calories compared with other mooncakes Traditional mooncakes are a typical treat for many Taiwanese in the lead-up to the Mid-Autumn Festival, but a Taipei-based dietitian has urged people not to eat more than one per day and not to have them every day due to their high fat and calorie content. As mooncakes contain a lot of oil and sugar, they can have negative health effects on older people and those with diabetes, said Lai Yu-han (賴俞含), a dietitian at Taipei Hospital of the Ministry of Health and Welfare. “The maximum you can have is one mooncake a day, and do not eat them every day,” Lai