President William Lai (賴清德) yesterday welcomed a delegation of US lawmakers and said he hoped that Taiwan-US military cooperation can expand to include joint research and development.
Speaking at the Presidential Office, Lai thanked US Representative Ami Bera, cochair of the Congressional Taiwan Caucus, for leading the all-Democratic delegation.
Lai said that Bera last visited in January last year, shortly after Taiwan’s presidential election, to demonstrate “support for Taiwan’s democracy.”
Photo: CNA
“This time, as head of the delegation of new members of the House armed services committee and the foreign affairs committee, he [Bera] is continuing to foster US Congressional support for Taiwan,” the president said.
He thanked the delegates for their initiatives in support of Taiwan, bolstering bilateral relations and continuing to focus on stability in the Taiwan Strait.
The government is prioritizing a special budget to increase defense spending to 3 percent of GDP this year, Lai said, reaffirming his administration’s efforts to bolster Taiwan’s self-defense capabilities and maintain peace in the Indo-Pacific region.
He also emphasized the importance of enhancing economic ties with the US, and expressed hope that the US-Taiwan expedited double-tax relief act would be passed and signed into law later this year.
The bill, which was passed by the US House of Representatives on Jan. 15, is now under consideration in the US Senate.
Taiwan has said it would eliminate tax barriers, resolve double taxation issues, and encourage greater economic and investment activity between the two sides.
During the meeting, Bera recalled his previous his trip and said he believed they were the first congressional delegation to visit then-president-elect Lai following his election victory.
It is crucial for democracies to work together to maintain peace in Asia, he said.
“When we look at conflict in Europe, conflict in the Middle East, it is important for democracies to hold the peace in Asia. That’s why it was important for us to bring a delegation of members of the Foreign Affairs Committee and the Armed Services Committee,” Bera said.
In addition to Bera, the delegation includes US representatives Gabe Amo, Wesley Bell, Julie Johnson, Sarah McBride and Johnny Olszewski — all of whom are visiting Taiwan for the first time.
Discussions during the visit, which runs through tomorow, would cover Taiwan-US relations, regional security, economic cooperation and supply chain resilience, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said.
Japan has deployed long-range missiles in a southwestern region near China, the Japanese defense minister said yesterday, at a time when ties with Beijing are at their lowest in recent years. The missiles were installed in Kumamoto in the southern region of Kyushu, as Japan is attempting to shore up its military capacity as China steps up naval activity in the East China Sea. “Standoff defense capabilities enable us to counter the threat of enemy forces attempting to invade our country ... while ensuring the safety of our personnel,” Japanese Minister of Defense Shinjiro Koizumi said. “This is an extremely important initiative for
The nation’s fastest supercomputer, Nano 4 (晶創26), is scheduled to be launched in the third quarter, and would be used to train large language models in finance and national defense sectors, the National Center for High-Performance Computing (NCHC) said. The supercomputer, which would operate at about 86.05 petaflops, is being tested at a new cloud computing center in the Southern Taiwan Science Park in Tainan. The exterior of the server cabinet features chip circuitry patterns overlaid with a map of Taiwan, highlighting the nation’s central position in the semiconductor industry. The center also houses Taiwania 2, Taiwania 3, Forerunner 1 and
MORE POPULAR: Taiwan Pass sales increased by 59 percent during the first quarter compared with the same period last year, the Tourism Administration said The Tourism Administration yesterday said that it has streamlined the Taiwan Pass, with two versions available for purchase beginning today. The tourism agency has made the pass available to international tourists since 2024, allowing them to access the high-speed rail, Taiwan Railway Corp services, four MRT systems and four Taiwan Tourist Shuttles. Previously, five types of Taiwan Pass were available, but some tourists have said that the offerings were too complicated. The agency said only two types of Taiwan Pass would be available, starting from a three-day pass with the high-speed rail and a three-day pass with Taiwan Railway Corp. The former costs NT$2,800
FIRST TRIAL: Ko’s lawyers sought reduced bail and other concessions, as did other defendants, but the bail judge denied their requests, citing the severity of the sentences Former Taipei mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) was yesterday sentenced to 17 years in prison and had his civil rights suspended for six years over corruption, embezzlement and other charges. Taipei prosecutors in December last year asked the Taipei District Court for a combined 28-year, six-month sentence for the four cases against Ko, who founded the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP). The cases were linked to the Core Pacific City (京華城購物中心) redevelopment project and the mismanagement of political donations. Other defendants convicted on separate charges included Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Taipei City Councilor Angela Ying (應曉薇), who was handed a 15-year, six-month sentence; Core Pacific
RSS