US House of Representatives Speaker Mike Johnson on Sunday reaffirmed US congressional support for Taiwan, saying the US and “all freedom-loving people” have a stake in preventing China from seizing Taiwan by force.
Johnson made the remarks in an interview with Fox News Sunday on US President Donald Trump’s summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) last week.
In an interview that aired on Friday on Fox News, just as Trump wrapped up a high-stakes visit to China, he said he has yet to green-light a new US$14 billion arms package to Taiwan and that it “depends on China.”
Photo: Screen grab from the Fox News Web site
“It’s a very good negotiating chip for us, frankly,” he said.
His comments raised concerns in Taiwan, which the government has sought to dispel, saying that the US’ official policy on Taiwan has not changed.
“Taiwan will not provoke or escalate conflict, but it will also not relinquish its national sovereignty and dignity, or its democratic and free way of life, under pressure,” President William Lai (賴清德) said in a statement, calling China “the root cause of undermining regional peace and stability and attempting to change the status quo.”
Johnson in the Fox News interview praised Lai’s statement, saying: “I thought that was a reasonable thing for the leader there to say.”
“China cannot just go take over land, and we’re going to stand strong and resolute by that. I know the Congress will,” he added.
US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer also sought to reassure observers that Washington’s Taiwan policy remained unchanged.
Speaking on ABC’s This Week, Greer said Trump had made no commitments to Xi regarding Taiwan and that the president retained authority over whether and when arms sales would proceed.
Meanwhile, US Senator Lindsey Graham said in an interview that aired on Saturday that he and US Senator Dan Sullivan plan to introduce legislation that would impose immediate economic sanctions on China in the event of an attempted invasion of Taiwan.
Speaking on NBC News’ Meet the Press, Graham said the proposed “preventive sanctions bill” would impose sweeping tariffs and economic penalties on Beijing as a deterrent against military action toward Taiwan.
Graham, a close ally of Trump, said he had not yet discussed the bill directly with Trump, but believed there was strong bipartisan support for it in Congress.
He said the US should clearly warn Beijing that any attack on Taiwan would result in severe economic consequences, adding that a similar warning to Russia before its invasion of Ukraine might have deterred Moscow from launching the war.
Graham also addressed Trump’s recent remarks that he was considering whether to approve a major arms sale package for Taiwan.
While saying the final decision rests with Trump, Graham said he would encourage the president to strengthen Taiwan’s defenses as much as possible to deter Chinese aggression.
He added that showing weakness on Taiwan would encourage Beijing to push further, while emphasizing that Washington’s goal remains maintaining the “status quo” and avoiding war or escalation.
Additional reporting by AP
The Ministry of Transportation and Communications yesterday inaugurated the Danjiang Bridge across the Tamsui River in New Taipei City, saying that the structure would be an architectural icon and traffic artery for Taiwan. Feted as a major engineering achievement, the Danjiang Bridge is 920m long, 211m tall at the top of its pylon, and is the longest single-pylon asymmetric cable-stayed bridge in the world, the government’s Web site for the structure said. It was designed by late Iraqi-British architect Zaha Hadid. The structure, with a maximum deck of 70m, accommodates road and light rail traffic, and affords a 200m navigation channel for boats,
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the world’s largest foundry service provider, yesterday said that global semiconductor revenue is projected to hit US$1.5 trillion in 2030, after the figure exceeds US$1 trillion this year, as artificial intelligence (AI) demand boosts consumption of token and compute power. “We are still at the beginning of the AI revolution, but we already see a significant impact across the whole semiconductor ecosystem,” TSMC deputy cochief operating officer Kevin Zhang (張曉強) said at the company’s annual technology symposium in Hsinchu City. “It is fair to say that in the past decade, smartphones and other mobile devices were
US-CHINA SUMMIT: MOFA welcomed US reassurance of no change in its Taiwan policy; Trump said he did not comment when Xi talked of opposing independence US President Donald Trump yesterday said he has not made a decision on whether to move forward with a major arms package for Taiwan after hearing concerns about it from Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平). Trump’s comments on Taiwan came as he flew back to Washington after wrapping up critical talks in which both leaders said important progress was made in stabilizing US-China relations even as deep differences persist between the world’s two biggest powers on Iran and Taiwan. “I will make a determination,” Trump said, adding: “I’ll be making decisions. But, you know, I think the last thing we need right
TAIWAN ISSUE: US treasury secretary Scott Bessent said on the first day of meetings that ‘it wouldn’t be a US-China summit without the Taiwan issue coming up’ There were no surprises on the first day of the summit between US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平), the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said yesterday, as the government reiterated that cross-strait stability is crucial to the Asia-Pacific region, as well as the world. As the two presidents met for a highly anticipated summit yesterday, Chinese state media reported that Xi warned Trump that missteps regarding Taiwan could push their two countries into “conflict.” Trump arrived in China with accolades for his host, calling Xi a “great leader” and “friend,” and extending an invitation to visit the White House
RSS