Taiwan’s friendly relationship with members of the US Congress provides a good foundation for expanding cooperation between the two sides, former US national security adviser John Bolton said yesterday.
Bolton, who arrived in Taiwan on Wednesday last week and is scheduled to leave today, met with President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) at her official residence and Vice President William Lai (賴清德) at the Presidential Office yesterday.
The visit allowed him to meet and exchange views with many good friends, and to learn more about the challenges and opportunities facing Taiwan, he said.
Photo: AFP / Presidential Office
The two major parties in the US, despite their differences on the political spectrum, are both aware of the economic, political and military threats that Beijing poses to the world, he said.
Taiwan’s active diplomatic engagement in the US and friendly relations with US lawmakers have opened up more opportunities for cooperation, he said.
Tsai thanked Bolton for showing his support for Taiwan through the visit and for his long-term contributions to deepening Taiwan-US ties.
Standing on the front line of the defense of democracy, “we [Taiwanese] are not only determined, but also well-prepared to protect our homeland,” Tsai said.
Taiwan hopes to continue deepening cooperation with the US and other like-minded partners to safeguard peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait, and uphold the values of freedom and democracy, she said.
In addition to bolstering military and security exchanges, Taiwan and the US can seek further trade and economic opportunities, she said.
As a force for good that upholds regional peace and stability and democratic values, Taiwan will fulfill its duties and work with democratic partners to contribute to the development and prosperity of the Indo-Pacific region, she added.
Lai said that Taiwan would continue to safeguard regional peace, as well as the nation’s democracy, freedom and economic development.
While serving as the White House national security adviser, Bolton supported US arms sales to Taiwan and Taiwan’s international participation, he said.
Lai expressed the hope that the US would support Taiwan’s bid to join the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership and explore the possibility of signing a bilateral trade agreement with Taiwan.
Bolton said that he looked forward to exchanging views with the vice president on various issues, including China’s development in the next few years and concrete ways to further enhance the relationship between the US and Taiwan.
Bolton yesterday evening attended a 40th anniversary celebration for the Washington-based Formosan Association for Public Affairs (FAPA), which promotes Taiwan’s sovereignty worldwide.
At the event in Taipei, which was also attended by Tsai and United Microelectronics Corp (聯華電子) founder Robert Tsao (曹興誠), Bolton said that telling Taiwan not to be provocative was misguided.
“There is only one country in this region that’s being provocative right now and its capital is Beijing,” he said. “It’s the existence of Taiwan that’s provocative to China.”
“It’s incumbent on the rest of the free world ... to stand by Taiwan and resist this provocative Chinese behavior,” he added, calling on the US to do more in its support.
This should include economic measures, diplomatic recognition of Taiwan, sending more US military personnel to to help Taiwanese with weapons training and sailing more freedom-of-navigation missions in the Taiwan Strait to emphasize to Beiijng that “those are not territorial waters of China,” Bolton said.
Additional reporting by staff writer
‘ABUSE OF POWER’: Lee Chun-yi allegedly used a Control Yuan vehicle to transport his dog to a pet grooming salon and take his wife to restaurants, media reports said Control Yuan Secretary-General Lee Chun-yi (李俊俋) resigned on Sunday night, admitting that he had misused a government vehicle, as reported by the media. Control Yuan Vice President Lee Hung-chun (李鴻鈞) yesterday apologized to the public over the issue. The watchdog body would follow up on similar accusations made by the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and would investigate the alleged misuse of government vehicles by three other Control Yuan members: Su Li-chiung (蘇麗瓊), Lin Yu-jung (林郁容) and Wang Jung-chang (王榮璋), Lee Hung-chun said. Lee Chun-yi in a statement apologized for using a Control Yuan vehicle to transport his dog to a
EUROPEAN TARGETS: The planned Munich center would support TSMC’s European customers to design high-performance, energy-efficient chips, an executive said Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the world’s largest contract chipmaker, yesterday said that it plans to launch a new research-and-development (R&D) center in Munich, Germany, next quarter to assist customers with chip design. TSMC Europe president Paul de Bot made the announcement during a technology symposium in Amsterdam on Tuesday, the chipmaker said. The new Munich center would be the firm’s first chip designing center in Europe, it said. The chipmaker has set up a major R&D center at its base of operations in Hsinchu and plans to create a new one in the US to provide services for major US customers,
BEIJING’S ‘PAWN’: ‘We, as Chinese, should never forget our roots, history, culture,’ Want Want Holdings general manager Tsai Wang-ting said at a summit in China The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) yesterday condemned Want Want China Times Media Group (旺旺中時媒體集團) for making comments at the Cross-Strait Chinese Culture Summit that it said have damaged Taiwan’s sovereignty, adding that it would investigate if the group had colluded with China in the matter and contravened cross-strait regulations. The council issued a statement after Want Want Holdings (旺旺集團有限公司) general manager Tsai Wang-ting (蔡旺庭), the third son of the group’s founder, Tsai Eng-meng (蔡衍明), said at the summit last week that the group originated in “Chinese Taiwan,” and has developed and prospered in “the motherland.” “We, as Chinese, should never
‘A SURVIVAL QUESTION’: US officials have been urging the opposition KMT and TPP not to block defense spending, especially the special defense budget, an official said The US plans to ramp up weapons sales to Taiwan to a level exceeding US President Donald Trump’s first term as part of an effort to deter China as it intensifies military pressure on the nation, two US officials said on condition of anonymity. If US arms sales do accelerate, it could ease worries about the extent of Trump’s commitment to Taiwan. It would also add new friction to the tense US-China relationship. The officials said they expect US approvals for weapons sales to Taiwan over the next four years to surpass those in Trump’s first term, with one of them saying
RSS