The American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) yesterday celebrated ties between the US and Taiwan through musical performances, with Director Sandra Oudkirk calling the partnership “rock solid.”
The AIT held the “AIT@45 Music Exchange Encore!” concert at the Eslite Performance Hall in Taipei to celebrate the 45th anniversary of the promulgation of the Taiwan Relations Act in 1979, when the US’ de facto embassy in Taiwan was founded.
The AIT was created to carry out “programs, transactions and other relations conducted or carried out by the [US] President or any agency of the United States Government with respect to Taiwan,” Section 6 of the act states.
Photo: Yang Yao-ju, Taipei Times
The act “established the foundation for the continuation of commercial, cultural and other relations between the people of the United States and Taiwan,” Oudkirk said.
Celebrating “45 years of the rock-solid partnership” between the US and Taiwan through music symbolized the profound effect cultural exchanges can have on people-to-people ties, she said.
The US Department of State has been promoting international exchange programs since 1940 to facilitate mutual understanding of foreign cultures and cultivate ties that transcend national borders, she said, adding that more than 3,000 people from Taiwan have participated.
As part of that effort, the AIT has worked with the State Department to organize cultural exchange programs, including the Youth Leadership Exchange Program, OneBeat, the International Visitor Leadership Program and Center Stage, she said.
Most of the performers at yesterday’s concert were previous participants, whose dedication to their craft and the role they play as cultural representatives embody “the spirit of cooperation and friendship that defines the relationship between the United States and Taiwan,” she said.
Theater, film and music are great mediums to understand people, as they embody human desires and aspirations, which are especially true in a democratic society where conversations about social issues are welcomed without threat of persecution, she said.
The AIT named the concert “encore” to show its commitment to promoting cultural exchanges and “the deepening of international friendships,” she said.
NETWORK-MAPPING PROJECT: The database contains 170 detailed files of Taiwanese politicians and about 23 million records of household registration data in Taiwan China has developed a network-mapping project targeting political figures and parties in Taiwan to monitor public opinion during elections and to craft tailored influence campaigns aimed at dividing Taiwanese society, according to documents leaked by Chinese technology firm GoLaxy (中科天璣). The documents, collected by Taipei-based Doublethink Lab, showed a database was specifically created to gather detailed information on Taiwanese political figures, including their political affiliations, job histories, birthplaces, residences, education, religion and a brief biography about them. Several notable Taiwanese politicians are in the database, including President William Lai (賴清德), former president Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文), Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍),
RECOGNITION: Former Fijian prime minister Mahendra Chaudhry said that Taiwan’s New Southbound Policy serves as a stabilizing force in the Indo-Pacific region Taiwan can lead the unification of the Chinese people, Nobel Peace Prize laureate and former Polish president Lech Walesa said in Taipei yesterday, adding that as the world order is changing, peaceful discussion would find good solutions, and that the use of force and coercion would always fail. Walesa made the remarks during his keynote address at a luncheon of the Yushan Forum in Taipei, titled “Indo-Pacific Partnership Prospects: Taiwan’s Values, Technology and Resilience,” organized by the Taiwan-Asia Exchange Foundation with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Walesa said that he had been at the forefront of a big peaceful revolution and “if
North Korea tested nuclear-capable rocket launchers, state media reported yesterday, a day after Seoul detected the launch of about 10 ballistic missiles. The test comes after South Korean and US forces launched their springtime military drills, due to run until Thursday. North Korean leader Kim Jong-un on Saturday oversaw the testing of the multiple rocket launcher system (MRLS), the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said. The test involved 12 600mm-caliber ultra-precision multiple rocket launchers and two artillery companies, it said. Kim said the drill gave Pyongyang’s enemies, within the 420km striking range, a sense of “uneasiness” and “a deep understanding
North Korea yesterday fired about 10 ballistic missiles to the sea toward Japan, the South Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said, days after Pyongyang warned of “terrible consequences” over ongoing South Korea-US military drills. Pyongyang recently dashed hopes of a diplomatic thaw with Seoul, Washington’s security ally, describing its latest peace efforts as a “clumsy, deceptive farce.” Seoul’s military detected “around 10 ballistic missiles launched from the Sunan area in North Korea toward the East Sea [Sea of Japan] at around 1:20pm,” JCS said in a statement, referring to South Korea’s name for the body of water. The missiles
RSS