American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) Director Raymond Greene yesterday reiterated that the US stands with its allies and partners in the Indo-Pacific region, adding that cooperation is more critical than ever.
Greene made the comments during his congratulatory remarks at the “Taiwan Forward: Driving Modernization Amid Shifting Global Dynamics” conference at National Taiwan University (NTU) in Taipei.
“The United States stands strong with our allies and partners in the Indo-Pacific,” he said. “We’re taking decisive actions to counter threats against economic resilience and advanced shared interests.”
Photo: Fang Pin-chao, Taipei Times
“Our cooperation is more critical than ever,” he said, adding that it makes “the US, Taiwan and all of our regional allies safer, stronger and more prosperous,” referring to remarks by the Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍).
While many countries have recognized Taiwan as a beacon of universal values and support the nation’s resilience and international participation, it has also in the past decade significantly reduced its investments in China, moving them to like-minded democratic countries, Greene said.
However, Taiwan still faces challenges, such as leading in artificial intelligence (AI), but falling behind in software development, which is partially due to reasonable concerns over China’s infiltration of Chinese-language large language models, he said.
Photo: Fang Pin-chao, Taipei Times
Greene also addressed the nation’s security “in the face of a relentlessly aggressive China that is using the full range of military, economic and diplomatic tools against Taiwan.”
“The United States has a stake in these questions and in Taiwan’s success,” he said, adding that the US and Taiwan are leading partners in advanced technology development, while the number of Taiwanese students studying in the US is growing and Taiwan is the US’ seventh-largest trading partner.
“Maintaining the status quo in the Taiwan Strait is critical for the United States and the entire world,” the AIT director said.
Citing comments by US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Greene said the US has a long-standing position on Taiwan that it would not abandon, which is that “we are against any forced, compelled, coercive change in the status of Taiwan.”
“The challenges Taiwan faces are not only challenges for Taiwan, but for the United States, and the entire world,” he said. “A strong, resilient Taiwan, and a stable and peaceful Indo-Pacific are the foundations of modernization.”
The conference — organized by the Taiwan Program at Stanford University’s Walter H. Shorenstein Asia-Pacific Research Center and cosponsored by NTU’s Office of International Affairs — featured panel discussions with academics from Stanford University, NTU and other universities in Taiwan, Japan, South Korea and Singapore, alongside Taiwanese industry leaders, on topics ranging from AI innovation and semiconductor, entrepreneurship, biomedical and healthcare advancements, and Taiwan’s demographic transformation.
Additional reporting by CNA
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