President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) yesterday awarded US-Taiwan Business Council chairman emeritus Paul Wolfowitz the Order of Brilliant Star with Grand Cordon for his contributions to Taiwan-US business relations and support for Taiwan’s democracy.
Tsai in a morning ceremony at the Presidential Office conferred the medal on Wolfowitz, who has also served as US deputy secretary of defense and World Bank president.
Thanking Tsai for the honor, Wolfowitz said that he has maintained close contact with Taiwan’s government and people over the years, no matter the political environment.
Photo: CNA
The US’ important, yet unofficial relations with Taiwan are akin to its former relationship with West Berlin, he said.
Although exchanges are based on people-to-people ties, diplomats on both sides are working hard to sustain Taiwan’s freedom, just as Washington supported West Berlin during the Cold War, he said, adding that they are of equal historical importance.
Tsai praised Wolfowitz as a good friend and staunch supporter of Taiwan.
He has over many years made “innumerable contributions to deepening Taiwan-US economic cooperation” and supporting Taiwan’s democracy, she said.
Wolfowitz is accompanying a council delegation to Taiwan for the first time in three years, consisting of business leaders from the high-tech, defense, energy, finance, biotech, consumer products and other sectors.
Wolfowitz said he is honored to be visiting Taiwan with so many esteemed business leaders.
A survey conducted by the council found that US business confidence in Taiwan has increased in the past few years, despite a global downturn, he said.
It is an achievement to be proud of, but “we should not become complacent,” he said, adding that the group would discuss how to further strengthen business confidence in Taiwan.
Taiwan’s survival depends on its prosperous economy and resilient people, Wolfowitz said, adding that the council is eager to help maintain its prosperity and resilience.
The visit shows the high level of importance the council places on Taiwan’s market, Tsai said, adding that they would hold in-depth discussions with their Taiwanese counterparts to seek more areas of cooperation.
Bilateral trade between Taiwan and the US has increased 50 percent since 2018, making Taiwan the ninth-largest trading partner of the US, she said.
Thanking the representatives for their long-standing confidence in Taiwan, Tsai reiterated the importance of peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait as “a cornerstone of prosperity for Taiwan, the US and the region,” as well as Taiwan’s determination to further strengthen its self-defense capabilities.
CHAMPIONS: President Lai congratulated the players’ outstanding performance, cheering them for marking a new milestone in the nation’s baseball history Taiwan on Sunday won their first Little League Baseball World Series (LLBWS) title in 29 years, as Taipei’s Dong Yuan Elementary School defeated a team from Las Vegas 7-0 in the championship game in South Williamsport, Pennsylvania. It was Taiwan’s first championship in the annual tournament since 1996, ending a nearly three-decade drought. “It has been a very long time ... and we finally made it,” Taiwan manager Lai Min-nan (賴敏男) said after the game. Lai said he last managed a Dong Yuan team in at the South Williamsport in 2015, when they were eliminated after four games. “There is
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) lawmakers have declared they survived recall votes to remove them from office today, although official results are still pending as the vote counting continues. Although final tallies from the Central Election Commission (CEC) are still pending, preliminary results indicate that the recall campaigns against all seven KMT lawmakers have fallen short. As of 6:10 pm, Taichung Legislators Yen Kuan-heng (顏寬恒) and Yang Chiung-ying (楊瓊瓔), Hsinchu County Legislator Lin Szu-ming (林思銘), Nantou County Legislator Ma Wen-chun (馬文君) and New Taipei City Legislator Lo Ming-tsai (羅明才) had all announced they
Nvidia Corp CEO Jensen Huang (黃仁勳) yesterday visited Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), as the chipmaker prepares for volume production of Nvidia’s next-generation artificial intelligence (AI) chips. It was Huang’s third trip to Taiwan this year, indicating that Nvidia’s supply chain is deeply connected to Taiwan. Its partners also include packager Siliconware Precision Industries Co (矽品精密) and server makers Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密) and Quanta Computer Inc (廣達). “My main purpose is to visit TSMC,” Huang said yesterday. “As you know, we have next-generation architecture called Rubin. Rubin is very advanced. We have now taped out six brand new
POWER PLANT POLL: The TPP said the number of ‘yes’ votes showed that the energy policy should be corrected, and the KMT said the result was a win for the people’s voice The government does not rule out advanced nuclear energy generation if it meets the government’s three prerequisites, President William Lai (賴清德) said last night after the number of votes in favor of restarting a nuclear power plant outnumbered the “no” votes in a referendum yesterday. The referendum failed to pass, despite getting more “yes” votes, as the Referendum Act (公民投票法) states that the vote would only pass if the votes in favor account for more than one-fourth of the total number of eligible voters and outnumber the opposing votes. Yesterday’s referendum question was: “Do you agree that the Ma-anshan Nuclear Power Plant