Taiwan-US relations are built on deep economic ties and shared values, American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) Director Raymond Greene said yesterday, adding that strengthening supply chain security in critical industries, enhancing societal resilience through cooperation and deepening partnerships are key to ensuring peace and stability for Taiwan in the years ahead.
Greene made the remarks at the National Security Youth Forum, organized by National Taiwan University’s National Security and Strategy Studies Institution in Taipei.
In his address in Mandarin Chinese, Greene said the Taiwan-US relationship is built on deep economic ties and shared interests, and grows stronger through the enduring friendship between the people of Taiwan and the US.
Photo: Fang Pin-chao, Taipei Times
The relationship has stood the test of time, unchanged through many US administrations, he said.
Greene said his priorities as AIT director are security, resilience and connection, and that his recent trip to the US was part of fulfilling those goals, particularly by working to further bolster economic ties between Taiwan and the US.
Greene said he was honored to attend this year’s SelectUSA Investment Summit during his trip to the US — a key US government initiative to promote foreign direct investment — adding that he was proud to see more than 180 representatives from 130 Taiwanese companies participate.
The SelectUSA Investment Summit is a prime example of international cooperation, facilitating mutual economic growth, strengthening global supply chain resilience and ensuring the technology ecosystem’s long-term stability, Greene said.
In addition to visiting Washington, Greene said the AIT coordinated visits for Taiwanese business groups to various US regions based on their areas of interest, including artificial intelligence (AI), semiconductors and drone technologies.
The three industries — AI, semiconductors and drones — are critically important, as they align with the AIT’s mission to promote security and resilience, as well as that of US President Donald Trump’s administration to make the US and Taiwan stronger, safer and more prosperous, he added.
As this year marks the 46th anniversary of the Taiwan Relations Act, Greene said the AIT is confident that continued efforts to secure supply chains in critical industries, bolster societal resilience through cooperation and deepen partnerships through two-way investment would ensure the peace maintained over the past 45 years would extend to the next 45 years and longer.
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) and National Security Council Deputy Secretary-General Hsu Szu-chien (徐斯儉) also attended the forum.
Chu in his address said that national security encompasses national defense, cross-strait relations, economics, energy, technological and social issues.
The KMT caucus would propose legislation aimed at modernizing national defense, and there should be a special statute for allocating special defense budgets, he said, adding that increasing defense spending is a common demand from the world, and it protects Taiwan’s safety.
However, the expanded defense budget should not only be limited to military procurement, but should also be used to strengthen homeland defense resilience, bolster social security systems and invest in talent cultivation.
Chu said that aside from the declining birthrate, a major crisis facing Taiwan is the low willingness among young people to join the military.
Without the government allocating more resources to improve the welfare of military personnel, even fewer people would join the military, he said.
Hsu in his speech said that peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait are essential to global security and development, adding that Taiwan should use its strategic geopolitical position within the first island chain, along with its leading role in semiconductors and information and communications technology, to advance the nation’s best interests.
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