The government yesterday welcomed Washington’s appointment of former American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) deputy director Brent Christensen as the new AIT director, praising him as being instrumental in the US’ implementation of several Taiwan-friendly initiatives.
The AIT announced in a press release yesterday morning that Christensen, a veteran US diplomat with nearly 30 years of service, is to succeed outgoing AIT Director Kin Moy.
Moy, the first US diplomat of Chinese descent to head the AIT’s Taipei office, is expected to leave next month the post he has occupied since June 2015, but the AIT has yet to release a specific date for his departure.
Photo: screen grab from the US Department of State Web site
Presidential Office spokesman Sidney Lin (林鶴明) said Christensen is a senior diplomat with a solid resume and is well-versed in US-Taiwan relations.
“During his tenure as director of the US Department of State’s Office of Taiwan Coordination from 2010 to 2012 and deputy director of the AIT from 2012 to 2015, Christensen had made every possible effort to further Taiwan-US ties. He was also involved in several initiatives vital to bilateral relations,” Lin said.
Following the completion of the AIT’s new compound in Taipei’s Neihu District (內湖), which cost the US government US$255.6 million and serves as a significant milestone in Taiwan-US relations, Lin said he hoped to see bilateral ties and cooperation between Taiwan and US reach new heights under Christensen’s leadership.
Lin also expressed the government’s gratitude to Moy for his dedication to the development of Taiwan-US ties over the past three years.
Moy was earlier this month given the Grand Medal of Diplomacy, the highest honor Taiwan gives to an individual for diplomatic contributions.
“Recent progress in Taiwan-US relations serves as a testament to the concrete foundations that have been laid down by all of the AIT’s previous directors. We will continue to further bilateral partnership based on these foundations,” Lin said.
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs also welcomed the appointment of Christensen, who it said has an in-depth understanding of major issues concerning Taiwan and the US, as well as the government’s policy stance.
Christensen has played a role in Washington’s implementation of several Taiwan-friendly initiatives, the ministry said, citing as examples Taiwan’s inclusion in the US’ Visa Waiver Program in 2012, the signing of a new version of the Agreement on Privileges, Exemptions and Immunities between the AIT and the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office in the US in 2013, and the establishment of the US-Taiwan Global Cooperation and Training Framework in 2015.
He has also facilitated visits by high-level US officials to Taiwan, including then-US environmental protection agency administrator Gina McCarthy in 2014 and then-US assistant secretary of state for economic and business affairs Charles Rivkin in 2015, the ministry said.
“The ministry looks forward to Christensen’s inauguration and to working closely with him to further the Taiwan-US partnership based on the foundations laid down by Moy and his predecessors,” it said.
Asked when Christensen would take office, the AIT said the date would be announced in the near future.
FIVE-YEAR WINDOW? A defense institute CEO said a timeline for a potential Chinese invasion was based on expected ‘tough measures’ when Xi Jinping seeks a new term Most Taiwanese are willing to defend the nation against a Chinese attack, but the majority believe Beijing is unlikely to invade within the next five years, a poll showed yesterday. The poll carried out last month was commissioned by the Institute for National Defense and Security Research, a Taipei-based think tank, and released ahead of Double Ten National Day today, when President William Lai (賴清德) is to deliver a speech. China maintains a near-daily military presence around Taiwan and has held three rounds of war games in the past two years. CIA Director William Burns last year said that Chinese President Xi Jinping
President William Lai (賴清德) yesterday said that China has “no right to represent Taiwan,” but stressed that the nation was willing to work with Beijing on issues of mutual interest. “The Republic of China has already put down roots in Taiwan, Penghu, Kinmen and Matsu,” Lai said in his first Double Ten National Day address outside the Presidential Office Building in Taipei. “And the Republic of China and the People’s Republic of China [PRC] are not subordinate to each other.” “The People’s Republic of China has no right to represent Taiwan,” he said at the event marking the 113th National Day of
REACTION TO LAI: A former US official said William Lai took a step toward stability with his National Day speech and the question was how Beijing would respond US Secretary of State Antony Blinken yesterday warned China against taking any “provocative” action on Taiwan after Beijing’s reaction to President William Lai’s (賴清德) speech on Double Ten National Day on Thursday. Blinken, speaking in Laos after an ASEAN East Asia Summit, called the speech by Lai, in which he vowed to “resist annexation,” a “regular exercise.” “China should not use it in any fashion as a pretext for provocative actions,” Blinken told reporters. “On the contrary, we want to reinforce — and many other countries want to reinforce — the imperative of preserving the status quo, and neither party taking any
SPEECH IMPEDIMENT? The state department said that using routine celebrations or public remarks as a pretext for provocation would undermine peace and stability Beijing’s expected use of President William Lai’s (賴清德) Double Ten National Day speech today as a pretext for provocative measures would undermine peace and stability, the US Department of State said on Tuesday. Taiwanese officials have said that China is likely to launch military drills near Taiwan in response to Lai’s speech as a pretext to pressure the nation to accept its sovereignty claims. A state department spokesperson said it could not speculate on what China would or would not do. “However, it is worth emphasizing that using routine annual celebrations or public remarks as a pretext or excuse for provocative or coercive
RSS