American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) Director Sandra Oudkirk yesterday said she looked forward to “expanding and deepening” the Taiwan-US partnership, in her first formal meeting with Minister of Foreign Affairs Joseph Wu (吳釗燮).
“I am glad to be back in Taiwan. It is an exciting time to be the director of AIT with the US-Taiwan relationship at an all-time high,” said Oudkirk, who took office late last month.
Oudkirk highlighted the two countries’ cooperation combating the COVID-19 pandemic, US efforts to help Taiwan expand its involvement in international organizations, including the World Health Assembly (WHA), and the “common democratic values that the United States and Taiwan share.” Oudkirk said that Taiwan’s exclusion from the WHA is detrimental to global efforts to combat COVID-19.
Photo courtesy of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs
After the meeting, Wu said that he and Oudkirk had “exchanged ideas on important issues.”
Wu welcomed the appointment of Oudkirk as AIT director and again thanked the US for its donation of 2.5 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines.
He said he hoped that the two countries would continue to reinforce cooperation in various areas under Oudkirk’s leadership.
“China is continuously expanding its influence throughout the world, which is of concern to the US and like-minded nations,” he said. “Taiwan hopes to cooperate with the US and other democracies to contribute to regional and global peace, stability and prosperity.”
STATS: Taiwan’s average life expectancy of 80.77 years was lower than that of Japan, Singapore and South Korea, but higher than in China, Malaysia and Indonesia Taiwan’s average life expectancy last year increased to 80.77 years, but was still not back to its pre-COVID-19 pandemic peak of 81.32 years in 2020, the Ministry of the Interior said yesterday. The average life expectancy last year increased the 0.54 years from 2023, the ministry said in a statement. For men and women, the average life expectancy last year was 77.42 years and 84.30 years respectively, up 0.48 years and 0.56 years from the previous year. Taiwan’s average life expectancy peaked at 81.32 years in 2020, as the nation was relatively unaffected by the pandemic that year. The metric
Taiwan High Speed Rail Corp. (THSRC) plans to ease strained capacity during peak hours by introducing new fare rules restricting passengers traveling without reserved seats in 2026, company Chairman Shih Che (史哲) said Wednesday. THSRC needs to tackle its capacity issue because there have been several occasions where passengers holding tickets with reserved seats did not make it onto their train in stations packed with individuals traveling without a reserved seat, Shih told reporters in a joint interview in Taipei. Non-reserved seats allow travelers maximum flexibility, but it has led to issues relating to quality of service and safety concerns, especially during
A magnitude 5.1 earthquake struck Chiayi County at 4:37pm today, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The hypocenter was 36.3km southeast of Chiayi County Hall at a depth of 10.4km, CWA data showed. There were no immediate reports of damage resulting from the quake. The intensity of the quake, which gauges the actual effect of a seismic event, measured 4 in Chiayi County, Tainan and Kaohsiung on Taiwan's seven-tier intensity scale, the data showed. The quake had an intensity of 3 in Chiayi City and Yunlin County, while it was measured as 2 in Pingtung, Taitung, Hualien, Changhua, Nantou and Penghu counties, the data
The Supreme Court today rejected an appeal filed by former Air Force officer Shih Chun-cheng (史濬程), convicted of Chinese Communist Party (CCP) espionage, finalizing his sentence at two years and two months for contravening the National Security Act (國家安全法). His other ruling, a ten-month sentence for an additional contravention, was meanwhile overturned and sent to the Taichung branch of the High Court for retrial, the Supreme Court said today. Prosecutors have been notified as Shih is considered a flight risk. Shih was recruited by Chinese Communist Party (CCP) intelligence officials after his retirement in 2008 and appointed as a supervisor
RSS