Peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait are core interests that concern Taiwan and the US, Minister of National Defense Wellington Koo (顧立雄) said yesterday.
Koo’s remarks come in the wake of US President Donald Trump’s statement on Monday during a joint news conference with Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) chairman C.C. Wei (魏哲家) announcing that the chipmaking giant would invest another US$100 billion in the US.
A Chinese invasion of Taiwan “would be a catastrophic event, obviously,” Trump said, adding that TSMC’s investment “will at least give us a position where we have, in this very, very important business, we would have a very big part of it in the United States.”
Photo: Chen Yi-kuan, Taipei Times
What Trump said showed that the Indo-Pacific region is a major core interest to the US, Koo said in response to media queries on whether Trump’s statement was an indirect pledge to defend Taiwan.
Should the US retreat from the Indo-Pacific region, it would greatly affect the US’ economic and military security from a strategic and geopolitical standpoint, Koo said.
“Keeping the peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific region, including maintaining the status quo across the Taiwan Strait, is in the US’ core national interest, and is the way to ensure the development and prosperity of the global economy,” he said. “Taiwan and the US have the same core interest, and we, too, hope for peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait.”
Based on this common core interest, Taiwan and the US should form a united front of deterrence, communicate and form partnerships to prevent a cross-strait war, he said.
Koo made similar remarks during a media briefing on Monday when asked whether the US is still a reliable security partner for Taiwan after last week’s clash between Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy renewed concerns in Taiwan about Washington’s security commitment.
“We indeed noticed the fast-changing and tricky international situation and deeply understand that we cannot just talk about values, but not national interests,” Koo said.
“So we must ask: Keeping the peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific region, including the status quo in the Taiwan Strait and the South China Sea, is that a core US national interest?” he asked.
“I think it is impossible for the United States to retreat from the Indo-Pacific, because it is its core national interest,” he said.
“Using deterrence and strength to achieve peace” has been the long-standing consensus between Taipei and Washington, and stability in the region is important for the US, economically and geopolitically, he said.
Koo said the government is planning to boost military spending in the face of the “rapidly changing international situation and the escalating threats from adversaries.”
Bolstering the nation’s asymmetric warfare capabilities and defense resilience would be principles governing the procurement of weapons, he added.
The defensive weapon procurement came under scrutiny as the Trump administration has asked US allies to increase military spending.
President William Lai (賴清德) last month also announced that allocating a special budget for defense spending would be a top priority in his administration, with the goal of raising Taiwan’s defense budget to more than 3 percent of GDP.
Media reports have said the government is targeting procurement of M109A7 self-propelled howitzers, MH-60R Seahawk helicopters and Northrop Grumman E-2D Hawkeye aircraft.
Koo did not comment on any specific weapon, saying that exchanges with the US have been proceeding through a well-established mechanism.
Both sides are in discussions over four key issues: building asymmetric warfare capabilities, bolstering the nation’s defense resilience, enhancing the combat ability of the military reserves and strengthening the nation’s ability to tackle “gray zone harassment” from China, he said.
In related news, Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) yesterday said the Executive Yuan is reviewing a comprehensive plan by the Ministry of National Defense to raise military pay.
Cho’s comments came a day after Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) lawmakers put forward a proposal to increase pay and benefits for military personnel.
Cho said he was pleased to see the potential for bipartisan consensus on improving national defense capabilities, adding that it could lead to quicker, more effective and comprehensive reform.
Additional reporting by AFP and CNA
MORE VISITORS: The Tourism Administration said that it is seeing positive prospects in its efforts to expand the tourism market in North America and Europe Taiwan has been ranked as the cheapest place in the world to travel to this year, based on a list recommended by NerdWallet. The San Francisco-based personal finance company said that Taiwan topped the list of 16 nations it chose for budget travelers because US tourists do not need visas and travelers can easily have a good meal for less than US$10. A bus ride in Taipei costs just under US$0.50, while subway rides start at US$0.60, the firm said, adding that public transportation in Taiwan is easy to navigate. The firm also called Taiwan a “food lover’s paradise,” citing inexpensive breakfast stalls
US PUBLICATION: The results indicated a change in attitude after a 2023 survey showed 55 percent supported full-scale war to achieve unification, the report said More than half of Chinese were against the use of force to unify with Taiwan under any circumstances, a survey conducted by the Atlanta, Georgia-based Carter Center and Emory University found. The survey results, which were released on Wednesday in a report titled “Sovereignty, Security, & US-China Relations: Chinese Public Opinion,” showed that 55.1 percent of respondents agreed or somewhat agreed that “the Taiwan problem should not be resolved using force under any circumstances,” while 24.5 percent “strongly” or “somewhat” disagreed with the statement. The results indicated a change in attitude after a survey published in “Assessing Public Support for (Non)Peaceful Unification
PLUGGING HOLES: The amendments would bring the legislation in line with systems found in other countries such as Japan and the US, Legislator Chen Kuan-ting said Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Chen Kuan-ting (陳冠廷) has proposed amending national security legislation amid a spate of espionage cases. Potential gaps in security vetting procedures for personnel with access to sensitive information prompted him to propose the amendments, which would introduce changes to Article 14 of the Classified National Security Information Protection Act (國家機密保護法), Chen said yesterday. The proposal, which aims to enhance interagency vetting procedures and reduce the risk of classified information leaks, would establish a comprehensive security clearance system in Taiwan, he said. The amendment would require character and loyalty checks for civil servants and intelligence personnel prior to
The China Coast Guard has seized control of a disputed reef near a major Philippine military outpost in the South China Sea, Beijing’s state media said, adding to longstanding territorial tensions with Manila. Beijing claims sovereignty over almost all of the South China Sea and has waved away competing assertions from other countries as well as an international ruling that its position has no legal basis. China and the Philippines have engaged in months of confrontations in the contested waters, and Manila is taking part in sweeping joint military drills with the US which Beijing has slammed as destabilizing. The Chinese coast guard
RSS