President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) yesterday invited businesspeople to join the government’s diplomatic efforts by showing Taiwan’s economic strength and goodwill to the world.
Addressing the opening of the annual World Taiwanese Chambers of Commerce meeting at the Kaohsiung Marriott Hotel, Tsai called on entrepreneurs to expand their economic reach and face the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic head on.
Donations from the business world to Ukraine and nations battling COVID-19 present Taiwan as a force for good, she said.
Photo: CNA
Welcoming former US secretary of state Mike Pompeo, who arrived late on Monday to meet with business leaders in Kaohsiung, Tsai said she never thought they would meet again so soon after his first visit in March.
By engaging with business leaders, Tsai said she is confident that both sides would learn a lot from each other.
In his address to the meeting, Pompeo rejected the description by some media of US House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan and Taiwan’s defense of its sovereignty as “provocative and threatening.”
“We’ve seen your president and others in your country here in Taiwan talk about basic rights to defend their own sovereignty and make decisions for themselves,” he said.
Many global news reports, in particular the “Chinese propaganda machine,” would say such behavior is “provocative” and “threatening,” but those reports were focused on the wrong target, he said.
“We should never forget who’s threatening,” Pompeo said. “It is not the great people of Taiwan. It is not the United States of America. The only threat to this region, the people who desire to upend what we know is right and decent and moral, is in fact the Chinese Communist Party.”
He urged people to never “put moral equivalence on the table,” and be clear and proud of that “for which each and every one of us stands.”
Pompeo called on the US to ditch its long-term economic and trade engagements with China, and work more closely with Taiwan instead.
“We should all understand the risk associated with working alongside the Chinese Communist Party, but today, the Chinese Communist Party wants to change the way you live here,” he said. “They want to change the way that people all throughout Southeast Asia live. They want to change the way that people inside of my country live.”
The US and Taiwan do not need to rely on the Chinese market, as together they have the capacity, human capital, technology and goodwill to be successful, he said.
“When we build this for ourselves, for our companies, when we build it for freedom and peace, then one day, one day the people in the Chinese Communist Party will get to be part of that as well,” he said. “I pray that that day is soon. I know that the work that we can collectively do together will hasten it.”
RETHINK? The defense ministry and Navy Command Headquarters could take over the indigenous submarine project and change its production timeline, a source said Admiral Huang Shu-kuang’s (黃曙光) resignation as head of the Indigenous Submarine Program and as a member of the National Security Council could affect the production of submarines, a source said yesterday. Huang in a statement last night said he had decided to resign due to national security concerns while expressing the hope that it would put a stop to political wrangling that only undermines the advancement of the nation’s defense capabilities. Taiwan People’s Party Legislator Vivian Huang (黃珊珊) yesterday said that the admiral, her older brother, felt it was time for him to step down and that he had completed what he
Taiwan has experienced its most significant improvement in the QS World University Rankings by Subject, data provided on Sunday by international higher education analyst Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) showed. Compared with last year’s edition of the rankings, which measure academic excellence and influence, Taiwanese universities made great improvements in the H Index metric, which evaluates research productivity and its impact, with a notable 30 percent increase overall, QS said. Taiwanese universities also made notable progress in the Citations per Paper metric, which measures the impact of research, achieving a 13 percent increase. Taiwanese universities gained 10 percent in Academic Reputation, but declined 18 percent
UNDER DISCUSSION: The combatant command would integrate fast attack boat and anti-ship missile groups to defend waters closest to the coastline, a source said The military could establish a new combatant command as early as 2026, which would be tasked with defending Taiwan’s territorial waters 24 nautical miles (44.4km) from the nation’s coastline, a source familiar with the matter said yesterday. The new command, which would fall under the Naval Command Headquarters, would be led by a vice admiral and integrate existing fast attack boat and anti-ship missile groups, along with the Naval Maritime Surveillance and Reconnaissance Command, said the source, who asked to remain anonymous. It could be launched by 2026, but details are being discussed and no final timetable has been announced, the source
SHOT IN THE ARM: The new system can be integrated with Avenger and Stinger missiles to bolster regional air defense capabilities, a defense ministry report said Domestically developed Land Sword II (陸射劍二) missiles were successfully launched and hit target drones during a live-fire exercise at the Jiupeng Military Base in Pingtung County yesterday. The missiles, developed by the Chungshan Institute of Science and Technology (CSIST), were originally scheduled to launch on Tuesday last week, after the Tomb Sweeping Day holiday long weekend, but were postponed to yesterday due to weather conditions. Local residents and military enthusiasts gathered outside the base to watch the missile tests, with the first one launching at 9:10am. The Land Sword II system, which is derived from the Sky Sword II (天劍二) series, was turned