The leader of a US congressional delegation to Taiwan praised the nation as a “force for good” in the world during a meeting with President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) yesterday, and said that under her administration, ties with the US were more productive than in prior decades.
The five members of the US House of Representatives arrived on Thursday night for a two-day trip, the second time in a month that US lawmakers have visited.
Speaking during a meeting with Tsai at the Presidential Office, US Representative Mark Takano, who chairs the House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs, said the lawmakers were in the region to remind partners and allies that the shared responsibility to a free and secure Indo-Pacific region remained stronger than ever.
Photo: AP
“Madam President, I want to commend and praise your leadership. Under your administration, the bonds between us are more positive and productive than they have been for decades,” said Takano, who earlier led the group to Japan and South Korea.
“Our commitment to Taiwan is rock solid and has remained steadfast as the ties between us have deepened. Taiwan is a democratic success story, a reliable partner and a force for good in the world,” he added.
Takano said he was hopeful that travel to Taiwan by US policymakers would become “business as usual again,” as the COVID-19 pandemic gradually wanes.
The American Institute in Taiwan said that US representatives Nancy Mace, Colin Allred, Elissa Slotkin and Sara Jacobs were also part of the trip to Taiwan.
Mace and Slotkin said they had received demands from the Chinese embassy in Washington to cancel the visit.
“When News broke of our visit to Taiwan, China’s embassy demanded we cancel the trip (we didn’t),” Mace wrote on Twitter hours before her arrival in Taipei.
In another tweet, Mace referred to Taiwan, whose official name is the Republic of China, as “the Republic of Taiwan.”
After arriving, Slotkin wrote that her office had received a similarly “blunt message from the Chinese Embassy” telling her to call off the trip.
Welcoming the lawmakers, Tsai said: “Taiwan will continue to step up cooperation with the United States in order to uphold our shared values of freedom and democracy, and to ensure peace and stability in the region.”
Tsai also announced that the Veterans Affairs Council would establish a mission in the US early next year to boost bilateral exchanges.
“Veterans affairs is one area in which Taiwan and the US have enjoyed particularly close cooperation over the past few years,” Tsai said, adding that starting in January “our Veterans Affairs Council will have an official base in Washington.”
Tsai said the office would “help us better coordinate and expand their exchanges in health insurance, quality healthcare, employment assistance and long-term care for veterans.”
The council previously said it is planning to dispatch two retired military officers to the US, who would be housed in the Ministry of National Defense’s mission in Washington.
Additional reporting by CNA and AP
‘NO SECURITY RISK’: The Railway Bureau reassured the public that the technicians’ activities were limited to technical guidance and did not involve sensitive systems The Railway Bureau yesterday said it had invited eight Chinese technicians to assist with an airport MRT construction project. The bureau issued the confirmation after an Internet user said Chinese nationals had entered the construction zone of Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport’s Terminal 3 project. They asked why “individuals from an enemy state” were allowed access to such a major national infrastructure project, which raised serious concerns over Taiwan’s industrial safety, sensitive systems and information security. The bureau’s Northern Region Engineering Branch Office said subcontractor Taiwan Handle Industrial Co (台灣手把工業) of the Taoyuan airport MRT’s “Contract No. CU05 Project A14 Station Civil, MEP &
The National Chungshan Institute of Science and Technology yesterday showcased its locally developed variants of the Vision 60 robotic patrol dog, which it plans to deploy on the nation’s outlying territories in the South China Sea. The variants were produced under the Joint Lab project — created by the institute and domestic companies — and assembled with domestically produced motors, lenses and artificial intelligence (AI) systems alongside licensed tech from the US, Missile and Rocket Systems Research Division deputy director Jen Kuo-kang (任國光) told the media event at a military base in Taipei’s Dazhi (大直) area. Taiwan has built up its strengths
TIT-FOR-TAT: The US allegedly revoked the visa of a Chinese national working at Xinhua News Agency in the US in response to Beijing’s expulsion of Vivian Wang The Presidential Office yesterday condemned China for expelling a New York Times correspondent from Beijing following the newspaper’s interview with President William Lai (賴清德), saying the move highlighted Beijing’s suppression of press freedom and its threat to international news media. Taiwan has noted a series of recent incidents in which Beijing used similar tactics to “threaten and pressure international media outlets and journalists,” Presidential Office spokeswoman Karen Kuo (郭雅慧) said in a statement. “This concerns not only press freedom and freedom of expression, but also the safety of journalists, and Taiwan and relevant partners are paying close attention to the situation,” she
NOT IMMEDIATE: Taiwan has a chance to appeal the proposed 10 percent tariff before it starts, while other countries face a 12.5 percent tariff from the trade office Taiwan is among 60 economies determined by the US to have failed to impose or enforce a ban on the importation of goods produced with forced labor, according to a notice released on Tuesday by the Office of the US Trade Representative (USTR), which proposed imposing an additional 10 percent or more tariff on them. The USTR in a statement said that following an investigation, it had determined under Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974 that the failure of the 60 economies to impose and effectively enforce a prohibition on the importation of goods produced with forced labor is
RSS