Taiwan and the US share the same democratic values and would work together to maintain regional peace, Premier Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) said yesterday.
Su made the remarks on the sideline of an event in New Taipei City in response to media queries about details involving Taiwan in former US national security adviser John Bolton’s book The Room Where it Happened: A White House Memoir.
The administration of US President Donald Trump abandoned the Kurdish people in Syria — who played a decisive role in helping the US defeat the Islamic State — after he left the White House, Bolton wrote, adding that there is already speculation over who Trump would ditch next, with Taiwan close to the top of the list.
Taiwan and the US have maintained good ties over the years, Su said, adding that the relationship has improved significantly under the leadership of President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文), from the sale of advanced weapons to the passage of Taiwan-friendly bills by the US Congress and mutual visits by high-ranking officials.
“We believe that the US and Taiwan would work together to maintain regional peace,” he said.
Su was also asked whether the government would reinforce military defenses of Pratas Island (Dongsha Island, 東沙島).
Tsai has reiterated the importance of defending our territories, as it is our way of defending our sovereignty, he said, adding that any actions taken to defend our territories should be carried out cautiously and be backed by the public.
The brilliant blue waters, thick foliage and bucolic atmosphere on this seemingly idyllic archipelago deep in the Pacific Ocean belie the key role it now plays in a titanic geopolitical struggle. Palau is again on the front line as China, and the US and its allies prepare their forces in an intensifying contest for control over the Asia-Pacific region. The democratic nation of just 17,000 people hosts US-controlled airstrips and soon-to-be-completed radar installations that the US military describes as “critical” to monitoring vast swathes of water and airspace. It is also a key piece of the second island chain, a string of
A magnitude 5.9 earthquake that struck about 33km off the coast of Hualien City was the "main shock" in a series of quakes in the area, with aftershocks expected over the next three days, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Prior to the magnitude 5.9 quake shaking most of Taiwan at 6:53pm yesterday, six other earthquakes stronger than a magnitude of 4, starting with a magnitude 5.5 quake at 6:09pm, occurred in the area. CWA Seismological Center Director Wu Chien-fu (吳健富) confirmed that the quakes were all part of the same series and that the magnitude 5.5 temblor was
Taiwan will now have four additional national holidays after the Legislative Yuan passed an amendment today, which also made Labor Day a national holiday for all sectors. The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) used their majority in the Legislative Yuan to pass the amendment to the Act on Implementing Memorial Days and State Holidays (紀念日及節日實施辦法), which the parties jointly proposed, in its third and final reading today. The legislature passed the bill to amend the act, which is currently enforced administratively, raising it to the legal level. The new legislation recognizes Confucius’ birthday on Sept. 28, the
The Central Weather Administration has issued a heat alert for southeastern Taiwan, warning of temperatures as high as 36°C today, while alerting some coastal areas of strong winds later in the day. Kaohsiung’s Neimen District (內門) and Pingtung County’s Neipu Township (內埔) are under an orange heat alert, which warns of temperatures as high as 36°C for three consecutive days, the CWA said, citing southwest winds. The heat would also extend to Tainan’s Nansi (楠西) and Yujing (玉井) districts, as well as Pingtung’s Gaoshu (高樹), Yanpu (鹽埔) and Majia (瑪家) townships, it said, forecasting highs of up to 36°C in those areas
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