President William Lai (賴清德) spoke to Republican US House Speaker Mike Johnson yesterday by phone, Lai's office told AFP today.
The Presidential Office confirmed that a call between Lai and Johnson happened yesterday without elaborating on the discussion, an AFP journalist travelling with Lai on his tour of Pacific nations and territories said.
The call marked the first direct conversation between the House speaker and Lai since the latter assumed office in May.
Photo: Bloomberg
Johnson had previously congratulated Lai upon his election in January and renewed the US’ commitment to the security and democracy of its Indo-Pacific partners, the Voice of America reported.
During a two-day visit to the US state of Hawaii at the beginning of Lai’s first overseas trip to visit Taiwan’s allies in the Pacific, Lai discussed "China's military threats" towards Taiwan in a 20-minute call with former US House speaker Nancy Pelosi, and met with US government officials and members of Congress.
Lai today said that Taiwan's partnership with the US was "rock solid" during a visit to the US territory of Guam.
Speaking at a banquet in Guam’s capital Hagatna today, Lai hailed the "deep connections" and "rock-solid partnership" between Taiwan and the US.
"Together, we are good partners in defending democracy, freedom and prosperity for both sides," Lai told an audience that included Guam Governor Lou Leon Guerrero and Ingrid Larson from the Washington office of the de facto US embassy in Taiwan.
At the banquet, Larson said the US would keep helping Taiwan "bolster its self-defense capabilities" and its "ability to protect itself against coercion."
Additional reporting by AFP
FIREPOWER: On top of the torpedoes, the military would procure Kestrel II anti-tank weapons systems to replace aging license-produced M72 LAW launchers Taiwan is to receive US-made Mark 48 torpedoes and training simulators over the next three years, following delays that hampered the navy’s operational readiness, the Ministry of National Defense’s latest budget proposal showed. The navy next year would acquire four training simulator systems for the torpedoes and take receipt of 14 torpedoes in 2027 and 10 torpedoes in 2028, the ministry said in its budget for the next fiscal year. The torpedoes would almost certainly be utilized in the navy’s two upgraded Chien Lung-class submarines and the indigenously developed Hai Kun, should the attack sub successfully reach operational status. US President Donald Trump
TPP RALLY: The clashes occurred near the Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall on Saturday at a rally to mark the anniversary of a raid on former TPP chairman Ko Wen-je People who clashed with police at a Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) rally in Taipei on Saturday would be referred to prosecutors for investigation, said the Ministry of the Interior, which oversees the National Police Agency. Taipei police had collected evidence of obstruction of public officials and coercion by “disorderly” demonstrators, as well as contraventions of the Assembly and Parade Act (集會遊行法), the ministry said in a statement on Sunday. It added that amid the “severe pushing and jostling” by some demonstrators, eight police officers were injured, including one who was sent to hospital after losing consciousness, allegedly due to heat stroke. The Taipei
NO LIVERPOOL TRIP: Taiwan’s Lin Yu-ting, who won a gold medal in the boxing at the Paris Olympics, was embroiled in controversy about her gender at that event Taiwanese boxer Lin Yu-ting (林郁婷) will not attend this year’s World Boxing Championships in Liverpool, England, due to a lack of response regarding her sex tests from the organizer, World Boxing. The national boxing association on Monday said that it had submitted all required tests to World Boxing, but had not received a response as of Monday, the departure day for the championships. It said the decision for Lin to skip the championships was made to protect its athletes, ensuring they would not travel to the UK without a guarantee of participation. Lin, who won a gold medal in the women’s 57kg boxing
The US has revoked Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co’s (TSMC, 台積電) authorization to freely ship essential gear to its main Chinese chipmaking base, potentially curtailing its production capabilities at that older-generation facility. American officials recently informed TSMC of their decision to end the Taiwanese chipmaker’s so-called validated end user (VEU) status for its Nanjing site. The action mirrors steps the US took to revoke VEU designations for China facilities owned by Samsung Electronics Co and SK Hynix Inc. The waivers are set to expire in about four months. “TSMC has received notification from the US Government that our VEU authorization for TSMC Nanjing
RSS