The US Air Force Academy on Friday called Taiwan a foreign nation when introducing Taiwanese cadets at its graduation ceremony, which was attended by US President Donald Trump.
“We are pleased to have in the class graduates from 10 foreign nations,” a US Air Force officer presiding over the ceremony said, before naming Taiwan, Kazakhstan, South Korea, Romania, Rwanda, Sri Lanka, Thailand, the Philippines, Singapore and Tunisia.
As each nation was called, a cadet from that nation stood and displayed their flag, which the audience acknowledged with cheers.
Photo: Reuters
A video released by the academy showed a Taiwanese graduate standing and waving the Republic of China (ROC) flag.
The ROC Air Force could not be reached to clarify the number of Taiwanese cadets in the academy’s graduating class of 989 people.
The Taiwanese military is known to send personnel to train at US military academies each year.
Photo: AFP
The ROC flag also appears in a photograph in which Trump poses with graduates during the commencement ceremony.
The photograph was shared on the White House’s Instagram account.
The academy’s gesture is one of the many signs Taiwan-US relations are normalizing, Institute for National Defense and Security Research senior analyst Su Tzu-yun (蘇紫雲) said.
The US Air Force Academy gave the ROC flag more prominence by placing it near Trump, he added.
In February, ROC Air Force Lieutenant Colonel Liu Chih-tung (劉志堂) and another officer attended a series of training exercises at the US’ Anderson Air Force Base in Guam, and wore their field uniforms and full rank markings, not the customary plainclothes, Su said.
The Trump administration has changed Washington’s perception of Taiwan and the difference in approach would become more evident as the US promulgates and implements the Taiwan Assurance, Taiwan Travel and Asia Reassurance Initiative acts, he said.
Additional reporting by Huang Hsin-po
ENDEAVOR MANTA: The ship is programmed to automatically return to its designated home port and would self-destruct if seized by another party The Endeavor Manta, Taiwan’s first military-specification uncrewed surface vehicle (USV) tailor-made to operate in the Taiwan Strait in a bid to bolster the nation’s asymmetric combat capabilities made its first appearance at Kaohsiung’s Singda Harbor yesterday. Taking inspiration from Ukraine’s navy, which is using USVs to force Russia’s Black Sea fleet to take shelter within its own ports, CSBC Taiwan (台灣國際造船) established a research and development unit on USVs last year, CSBC chairman Huang Cheng-hung (黃正弘) said. With the exception of the satellite guidance system and the outboard motors — which were purchased from foreign companies that were not affiliated with Chinese-funded
PERMIT REVOKED: The influencer at a news conference said the National Immigration Agency was infringing on human rights and persecuting Chinese spouses Chinese influencer “Yaya in Taiwan” (亞亞在台灣) yesterday evening voluntarily left Taiwan, despite saying yesterday morning that she had “no intention” of leaving after her residence permit was revoked over her comments on Taiwan being “unified” with China by military force. The Ministry of the Interior yesterday had said that it could forcibly deport the influencer at midnight, but was considering taking a more flexible approach and beginning procedures this morning. The influencer, whose given name is Liu Zhenya (劉振亞), departed on a 8:45pm flight from Taipei International Airport (Songshan airport) to Fuzhou, China. Liu held a news conference at the airport at 7pm,
KAOHSIUNG CEREMONY: The contract chipmaker is planning to build 5 fabs in the southern city to gradually expand its 2-nanometer chip capacity Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the world’s biggest contract chipmaker, yesterday confirmed that it plans to hold a ceremony on March 31 to unveil a capacity expansion plan for its most advanced 2-nanometer chips in Kaohsiung, demonstrating its commitment to further investment at home. The ceremony is to be hosted by TSMC cochief operating officer Y.P. Chyn (秦永沛). It did not disclose whether Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) and high-ranking government officials would attend the ceremony. More details are to be released next week, it said. The chipmaker’s latest move came after its announcement earlier this month of an additional US$100 billion
Authorities yesterday elaborated on the rules governing Employment Gold Cards after a US cardholder was barred from entering Taiwan for six years after working without a permit during a 2023 visit. American YouTuber LeLe Farley was barred after already being approved for an Employment Gold Card, he said in a video published on his channel on Saturday. Farley, who has more than 420,000 subscribers on his YouTube channel, was approved for his Gold Card last month, but was told at a check-in counter at the Los Angeles International Airport that he could not enter Taiwan. That was because he previously participated in two
RSS