If Taiwan needs a sign that the relationship with the US is “at a high water mark,” it only needs to look at the schedule of newly appointed American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) Director Sandra Oudkirk for the past four months.
After assuming the post at the end of July, Oudkirk met with President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) on Aug. 10, when Oudkirk said that “the Taiwan-US relationship is at a high water mark.”
Since then, Oudkirk has kept a packed agenda. From appearing at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport when Moderna COVID-19 vaccines donated by the US arrived, to traveling to Chiayi County to witness the upgrading of F-16 combat squadrons, to accompanying US congressional delegations to meetings with Tsai and visiting Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC) facilities, there is no question that Oudkirk has been demonstrating the high water mark occasion with tangible actions.
The Global Cooperation and Training Framework (GCTF) is another example.
To resolve the predicaments Taiwan faces in joining international organizations, the US founded the GCTF in 2015, a tailor-made platform to utilize Taiwan’s strengths and expertise to address global issues of mutual concern with the international community, focusing on public health, crime, digital economics, cybersecurity and other fields.
Since assuming her position, Oudkirk has hosted six consecutive workshops with one to two events per month. The topics have included green energy and sustainability, labor rights protection, crisis management and disaster response, women in government, protecting the rights of people with disabilities and countering fake news.
All of these issues are within Taiwan’s areas of expertise, and by standing shoulder to shoulder with the US, the nation can bring to life its slogan of “Taiwan can help” and contribute in a variety of ways to the international community.
Japan became the GCTF’s third partner in 2019, and has since joined Taiwan and the US in cohosting all of its workshops.
Australia also joined the framework in October.
The GCTF alliance can assist Taiwan in becoming central to those countries’ strategies in the Indo-Pacific region.
Additional like-minded countries such as Canada, the UK, Sweden, the Netherlands, Slovakia, Israel and some countries in the EU have joined the GCTF to cohost workshops on a wide range of topics.
Taiwan might be seeing a spillover effect from the GCTF, with a growing number of participating countries and increasing diversity in the topics it covers.
Since the administration of US President Joe Biden took office in January, US Navy vessels have sailed through the Taiwan Strait 11 times, conducting regular freedom of navigation patrols every month. Tsai has also confirmed the presence of US troops in the nation to help train the Taiwanese military.
Meanwhile, a TSMC 5-nanometer wafer plant under construction in Phoenix, Arizona, is to be the US’ largest direct foreign investment in the country’s history.
With defense and supply chain cooperation in place, there is no doubt that the relationship between Taiwan and the US is at a high water mark.
As visits from US government officials and congressional delegations are expected to increase, Oudkirk’s schedule is likely to become busier than ever.
Chen Yung-chang is a company manager.
Translated by Rita Wang
A series of strong earthquakes in Hualien County not only caused severe damage in Taiwan, but also revealed that China’s power has permeated everywhere. A Taiwanese woman posted on the Internet that she found clips of the earthquake — which were recorded by the security camera in her home — on the Chinese social media platform Xiaohongshu. It is spine-chilling that the problem might be because the security camera was manufactured in China. China has widely collected information, infringed upon public privacy and raised information security threats through various social media platforms, as well as telecommunication and security equipment. Several former TikTok employees revealed
The bird flu outbreak at US dairy farms keeps finding alarming new ways to surprise scientists. Last week, the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) confirmed that H5N1 is spreading not just from birds to herds, but among cows. Meanwhile, media reports say that an unknown number of cows are asymptomatic. Although the risk to humans is still low, it is clear that far more work needs to be done to get a handle on the reach of the virus and how it is being transmitted. That would require the USDA and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to get
For the incoming Administration of President-elect William Lai (賴清德), successfully deterring a Chinese Communist Party (CCP) attack or invasion of democratic Taiwan over his four-year term would be a clear victory. But it could also be a curse, because during those four years the CCP’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA) will grow far stronger. As such, increased vigilance in Washington and Taipei will be needed to ensure that already multiplying CCP threat trends don’t overwhelm Taiwan, the United States, and their democratic allies. One CCP attempt to overwhelm was announced on April 19, 2024, namely that the PLA had erred in combining major missions
On April 11, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida delivered a speech at a joint meeting of the US Congress in Washington, in which he said that “China’s current external stance and military actions present an unprecedented and the greatest strategic challenge … to the peace and stability of the international community.” Kishida emphasized Japan’s role as “the US’ closest ally.” “The international order that the US worked for generations to build is facing new challenges,” Kishida said. “I understand it is a heavy burden to carry such hopes on your shoulders,” he said. “Japan is already standing shoulder to shoulder