It is important for democracies to support Taiwan as it works to preserve its independence and freedom, US Senator Marsha Blackburn said at a meeting with President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) yesterday.
“It is important ... that freedom-loving nations support Taiwan as they seek to preserve their independence,” said Blackburn, who is a member of the US Senate Armed Services Committee.
Blackburn, a Republican representing Tennessee, said she looks forward to continuing to help support the people of Taiwan as “they push forward as an independent nation.”
Photo: EPA-EFE
The senator has been critical of Beijing, which she described as an “adversary” of the US.
“I will continue to stand with [Taiwanese] and their right to freedom and democracy,” Blackburn wrote on Twitter after arriving in Taipei on Thursday, adding that Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) “doesn’t scare me.”
Tsai praised Blackburn for sponsoring a bill in the US Congress that aims to “bolster US backing for Taiwan to enhance our self-defense capabilities.”
The president was likely referring to the draft Taiwan democracy defense lend-lease act, introduced in the US Senate last month.
The bill would support “the United States’ partnership with Taiwan by authorizing a defense lend or lease program with the government of Taiwan,” Blackburn said.
Tsai said the Russian invasion of Ukraine and China’s military exercises in the Taiwan Strait showed that authoritarian countries are disrupting and threatening the world order.
She urged democracies to “further unite and cooperate in jointly holding a firm line of defense of our values, freedom and democracy.”
Tsai also expressed hope that Taiwan could join the US-initiated Indo-Pacific Economic Framework for Prosperity, saying that like-minded countries should deepen economic and trade cooperation to create secure and resilient supply chains.
Blackburn met with National Security Council Secretary-General Wellington Koo (顧立雄) yesterday to discuss security and trade issues, and is to depart today, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said.
She also gave a keynote speech at the ministry’s Institute of Diplomacy and International Affairs in Taipei yesterday afternoon.
US Department of State spokesperson Vedant Patel said in Washington that US lawmakers “have gone to Taiwan for decades and will continue to do so.”
“We’re going to continue to take calm and resolute steps to uphold peace and stability in the region and to support Taiwan in line with our long-standing policy,” Patel told a news conference on Thursday.
The CIA has a message for Chinese government officials worried about their place in Chinese President Xi Jinping’s (習近平) government: Come work with us. The agency released two Mandarin-language videos on social media on Thursday inviting disgruntled officials to contact the CIA. The recruitment videos posted on YouTube and X racked up more than 5 million views combined in their first day. The outreach comes as CIA Director John Ratcliffe has vowed to boost the agency’s use of intelligence from human sources and its focus on China, which has recently targeted US officials with its own espionage operations. The videos are “aimed at
STEADFAST FRIEND: The bills encourage increased Taiwan-US engagement and address China’s distortion of UN Resolution 2758 to isolate Taiwan internationally The Presidential Office yesterday thanked the US House of Representatives for unanimously passing two Taiwan-related bills highlighting its solid support for Taiwan’s democracy and global participation, and for deepening bilateral relations. One of the bills, the Taiwan Assurance Implementation Act, requires the US Department of State to periodically review its guidelines for engagement with Taiwan, and report to the US Congress on the guidelines and plans to lift self-imposed limitations on US-Taiwan engagement. The other bill is the Taiwan International Solidarity Act, which clarifies that UN Resolution 2758 does not address the issue of the representation of Taiwan or its people in
SHIFT: Taiwan’s better-than-expected first-quarter GDP and signs of weakness in the US have driven global capital back to emerging markets, the central bank head said The central bank yesterday blamed market speculation for the steep rise in the local currency, and urged exporters and financial institutions to stay calm and stop panic sell-offs to avoid hurting their own profitability. The nation’s top monetary policymaker said that it would step in, if necessary, to maintain order and stability in the foreign exchange market. The remarks came as the NT dollar yesterday closed up NT$0.919 to NT$30.145 against the US dollar in Taipei trading, after rising as high as NT$29.59 in intraday trading. The local currency has surged 5.85 percent against the greenback over the past two sessions, central
US Indo-Pacific Commander Admiral Samuel Paparo on Friday expressed concern over the rate at which China is diversifying its military exercises, the Financial Times (FT) reported on Saturday. “The rates of change on the depth and breadth of their exercises is the one non-linear effect that I’ve seen in the last year that wakes me up at night or keeps me up at night,” Paparo was quoted by FT as saying while attending the annual Sedona Forum at the McCain Institute in Arizona. Paparo also expressed concern over the speed with which China was expanding its military. While the US
RSS