The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) yesterday said it has not received any information that US President Donald Trump has asked government officials not to visit Taiwan, and that continuing visits by senior US officials show that Taiwan-US ties remain tight.
The statement came in response to a Wall Street Journal (WSJ) report on Monday that the Trump administration is divided over the impact a US$2 billion-plus arms sale to Taiwan could have on its efforts to reinitiate trade talks with China.
The newspaper cited three anonymous White House and administration sources as saying US officials are worried that Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) might use the arms deal as an excuse not to meet with Trump on the sidelines of a G20 summit in Osaka, Japan, later this month.
Photo: CNA
One of the sources told the WSJ that Trump had lashed out last year after hearing that US Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Alex Wong (黃之瀚) had traveled to Taipei in March, asking officials what Wong was doing.
Trump requested that no US diplomats travel to Taiwan while he works on a deal with China, the source said.
It “took some convincing” by US officials and lawmakers to make Trump see “the value in using Taiwan as a bargaining chip in his talks with China,” the report said.
The ministry has not received information about Trump’s reported request that US diplomats not visit Taiwan, and it maintains smooth communications with the US, Department of North American Affairs Director-General Vincent Yao (姚金祥) told a routine news conference when asked about the WSJ story.
Over the past several months, many senior US officials have visited Taiwan, which demonstrates the soundness of ties, Yao said.
Among the visitors have been US Ambassador-at-Large for International Religious Freedom Sam Brownback, US Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Trade Policy and Negotiations David Meale, US Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for International Organization Affairs Nerissa Cook and US Assistant Secretary of State for Educational and Cultural Affairs Marie Royce.
Since Trump’s administration took office in January 2017, the US has announced three arms package sales to Taiwan under the Taiwan Relations Act, showing its commitment to Taiwan’s security, to which the ministry expressed its gratitude, Yao said.
The military has sent four letters of request about purchasing M1A2 Abrams tanks and other items, and is awaiting a response, Yao said, reiterating previous comments by Ministry of National Defense officials.
The process is going smoothly and according to schedule, he said.
Additional reporting by CNA and staff writer
DEMOGRAPHICS: Robotics is the most promising answer to looming labor woes, the long-term care system and national contingency response, an official said Taiwan is to launch a five-year plan to boost the robotics industry in a bid to address labor shortages stemming from a declining and aging population, the Executive Yuan said yesterday. The government approved the initiative, dubbed the Smart Robotics Industry Promotion Plan, via executive order, senior officials told a post-Cabinet meeting news conference in Taipei. Taiwan’s population decline would strain the economy and the nation’s ability to care for vulnerable and elderly people, said Peter Hong (洪樂文), who heads the National Science and Technology Council’s (NSTC) Department of Engineering and Technologies. Projections show that the proportion of Taiwanese 65 or older would
Nvidia Corp yesterday unveiled its new high-speed interconnect technology, NVLink Fusion, with Taiwanese application-specific IC (ASIC) designers Alchip Technologies Ltd (世芯) and MediaTek Inc (聯發科) among the first to adopt the technology to help build semi-custom artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure for hyperscalers. Nvidia has opened its technology to outside users, as hyperscalers and cloud service providers are building their own cost-effective AI chips, or accelerators, used in AI servers by leveraging ASIC firms’ designing capabilities to reduce their dependence on Nvidia. Previously, NVLink technology was only available for Nvidia’s own AI platform. “NVLink Fusion opens Nvidia’s AI platform and rich ecosystem for
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) yesterday said it is building nine new advanced wafer manufacturing and packaging factories this year, accelerating its expansion amid strong demand for high-performance computing (HPC) and artificial intelligence (AI) applications. The chipmaker built on average five factories per year from 2021 to last year and three from 2017 to 2020, TSMC vice president of advanced technology and mask engineering T.S. Chang (張宗生) said at the company’s annual technology symposium in Hsinchu City. “We are quickening our pace even faster in 2025. We plan to build nine new factories, including eight wafer fabrication plants and one advanced
‘WORLD’S LOSS’: Taiwan’s exclusion robs the world of the benefits it could get from one of the foremost practitioners of disease prevention and public health, Minister Chiu said Taiwan should be allowed to join the World Health Assembly (WHA) as an irreplaceable contributor to global health and disease prevention efforts, Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said yesterday. He made the comment at a news conference in Taipei, hours before a Taiwanese delegation was to depart for Geneva, Switzerland, seeking to meet with foreign representatives for a bilateral meeting on the sidelines of the WHA, the WHO’s annual decisionmaking meeting, which would be held from Monday next week to May 27. As of yesterday, Taiwan had yet to receive an invitation. Taiwan has much to offer to the international community’s
RSS