Acting US Assistant Secretary of State for Legislative Affairs Naz Durakoglu on Friday said that the US would continue to express support for Taiwan as China seeks to reduce Taiwan’s international standing.
Her statement was made in response to a letter written on Wednesday last week and addressed to US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, in which US representatives Scott Perry and Tom Tiffany urged the US Department of State to be wary of Chinese meddling in Haiti following the assassination of Haitian president Jovenel Moise.
In their letter, the two representatives highlighted the importance of the Caribbean nation’s ties to Taiwan, which is one of its 16 remaining diplomatic allies.
“The United States will continue to express support for Taiwan publicly, collaborate with Taiwan on initiatives that demonstrate the value it brings to the international community, and encourage like-minded countries’ engagement with and public demonstrations of support for Taiwan,” Durakoglu said on Friday.
She also said the department was fully aware that China “seeks to abridge Taiwan’s international space and reduce its international standing.”
Durakoglu said the US has sent an interagency delegation to Haiti to assist with the investigation into Moise’s assassination.
Moise was killed on July 7 by a group of gunmen at his private residence in the capital, Port-au-Prince.
His wife, Martine Moise, was seriously wounded during the attack and was flown to Miami for treatment. She returned to Haiti last week to attend her husband’s funeral on Friday.
“The United States stands with the Haitian people at this difficult time, as they strive to build a safer, more democratic future,” Durakoglu said.
Taiwan and Haiti celebrated the 65th anniversary of diplomatic relations in April. Jovenel Moise last visited Taiwan in 2018 for five days.
LIMITS: While China increases military pressure on Taiwan and expands its use of cognitive warfare, it is unwilling to target tech supply chains, the report said US and Taiwan military officials have warned that the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) could implement a blockade within “a matter of hours” and need only “minimal conversion time” prior to an attack on Taiwan, a report released on Tuesday by the US Senate’s China Economic and Security Review Commission said. “While there is no indication that China is planning an imminent attack, the United States and its allies and partners can no longer assume that a Taiwan contingency is a distant possibility for which they would have ample time to prepare,” it said. The commission made the comments in its annual
DETERMINATION: Beijing’s actions toward Tokyo have drawn international attention, but would likely bolster regional coordination and defense networks, the report said Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s administration is likely to prioritize security reforms and deterrence in the face of recent “hybrid” threats from China, the National Security Bureau (NSB) said. The bureau made the assessment in a written report to the Legislative Yuan ahead of an oral report and questions-and-answers session at the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee tomorrow. The key points of Japan’s security reforms would be to reinforce security cooperation with the US, including enhancing defense deployment in the first island chain, pushing forward the integrated command and operations of the Japan Self-Defense Forces and US Forces Japan, as
INTERCEPTION: The 30km test ceiling shows that the CSIST is capable of producing missiles that could stop inbound missiles as they re-enter the atmosphere Recent missile tests by the Chungshan Institute of Science and Technology (CSIST) show that Taiwan’s missiles are capable of intercepting ballistic missiles as they re-enter the atmosphere and pose a significant deterrent to Chinese missile threats, former Hsiung Feng III missile development project chief engineer Chang Cheng (張誠) said yesterday. The military-affiliated institute has been conducting missile tests, believed to be related to Project Chiang Kung (強弓) at Pingtung County’s Jiupeng Military Base, with many tests deviating from past practices of setting restriction zones at “unlimited” and instead clearly stating a 30.48km range, Chang said. “Unlimited” restrictions zones for missile tests is
PUBLIC SAFETY: The nationwide distribution campaign aims to enhance society’s overall understanding of threats and bolster defense awareness, an official said The latest edition of the National Public Safety Guide is being mailed to all citizens starting today to foster public awareness of self-defense in the event of war or natural disasters, the Ministry of National Defense said yesterday. “The guides will be disseminated to the public to enhance society’s overall understanding of threats and bolster defense awareness, demonstrating the government’s emphasis on people’s safety and its determination to pursue self-defense,” All-out Defense Mobilization Agency Director Shen Wei-chih (沈威志) said at the ministry’s news conference. The nationwide distribution campaign was planned according to President Lai William’s (賴清德) Sept. 20 directive, he said, adding
RSS