The US has deep respect for Taiwan’s democracy and is committed to supporting its self-defense, even in the face of loud complaints from Beijing, American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) Chair Laura Rosenberger said on Thursday.
US “interest in peace and stability across the Strait and our commitments to supporting Taiwan’s self-defense capacity are things we will continue to uphold,” Rosenberger said during a media discussion at AIT’s Washington headquarters.
She was responding to a question about the recent approval of US$440 million in arms sales to Taiwan, the 10th by US President Joe Biden’s administration.
Photo: CNA
“Any complaints from Beijing are not going to change that approach,” she said.
In May, US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin confirmed at a Senate hearing that the US would also soon send Taiwan US$500 million in stockpiled military equipment using the presidential drawdown authority (PDA), but nothing has been formally announced so far.
The PDA option was brought into play to help Taiwan get access to weapons quickly amid delays in US deliveries of arms ordered by Taiwan, with reports putting the backlog at US$19 billion of weapons.
Photo: Ben Blanchard, Reuters
Asked if the lack of action was due to US Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s recent trip to China, Rosenberger said she did not have anything specific on the PDA beyond what Austin said before Congress.
Rosenberger also spoke briefly about her trip to Taiwan last month, when she met Taiwan’s presidential candidates and some of their advisers.
“I’ve really valued the opportunity to get to know them, to understand better each of their policies and their priorities, and to really build relationships with each of the candidates,” she said.
Rosenberger rejected the idea that the conversations with the candidates were “interviews” designed to assess their policies, as some have suggested.
“I’d actually just like to make really clear that that’s not at all the purpose of these conversations,” she said, adding that US policy is “not going to change based on which candidate is in office.”
On the topic of double tax avoidance, she said it is an issue that is very high on the radar of policymakers in Washington, as well as for Tsai and her colleagues.
“There are efforts to explore what might be possible,” she said, but added that she did not have anything specific at this time.
Meanwhile, in Taipei, Tsai told a US Independence Day celebration that Taiwan’s close partnership with the US would continue to grow no matter who becomes the next leader of Taiwan.
Speaking at the reception on Thursday hosted by the AIT, Tsai said the enduring relationship between the two nations was planted decades ago “when the US supported Taiwanese people in pursuing democracy.”
“Since then, and at every critical juncture of Taiwan’s political history, the United States was always there to lend assistance and encouragement to Taiwan,” she said.
Bilateral investment is also increasing at an unprecedented rate, Tsai said, adding that this cooperation has helped provide the world with reliable and secure supply chains.
Since she assumed office in May 2016, Tsai said Taiwan and the US have done “quite a lot together and the results have been remarkable.”
“This partnership will continue to grow no matter who the next president of Taiwan is,” she said.
Tsai appealed to the three presidential candidates who joined Thursday’s reception — Vice President William Lai (賴清德) of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), New Taipei City Mayor Hou You-yi (侯友宜) of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and former Taipei mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) of the Taiwan People’s Party.
“I’m sure all the presidential candidates who are here tonight would agree with me without hesitation. Do you want to raise your hands and say yes?” she said, eliciting good-natured laughter from the crowd.
AIT Director Sandra Oudkirk said in her address that the Washington-Taipei partnership is closer than ever, pointing to how bilateral trade increased by nearly 20 percent last year.
She also thanked Tsai for working with her on strengthening and expanding US-Taiwan relations since she took up the post in July 2021.
“Your commitment to ensuring the peace and prosperity of Taiwan is constant, and the United States appreciates your steady leadership in the face of an increasingly complex geopolitical climate,” she said.
Thursday’s reception marked the first time Tsai attended the reception in person since assuming office in May 2016. In July 2016, she delivered a pre-recorded address.
The reception was also attended by a delegation of visiting US Republican representatives who were on a five-day visit that began on Monday.
‘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
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
INDO-PACIFIC REGION: Royal Navy ships exercise the right of freedom of navigation, including in the Taiwan Strait and South China Sea, the UK’s Tony Radakin told a summit Freedom of navigation in the Indo-Pacific region is as important as it is in the English Channel, British Chief of the Defence Staff Admiral Tony Radakin said at a summit in Singapore on Saturday. The remark came as the British Royal Navy’s flagship aircraft carrier, the HMS Prince of Wales, is on an eight-month deployment to the Indo-Pacific region as head of an international carrier strike group. “Upholding the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, and with it, the principles of the freedom of navigation, in this part of the world matters to us just as it matters in the
RSS