President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) yesterday in a meeting with American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) Director Sandra Oudkirk said that she hoped Taiwan and the US will work together to advance their relationship.
Tsai said she was pleased to again meet Oudkirk, who assumed her post last month, and welcomed her on behalf of the government and the public to Taiwan for a second assignment.
Taipei was Oudkirk’s first overseas assignment after joining the US Foreign Service in 1991. She served as a consular officer at the AIT from 1992 to 1994. She later visited Taiwan in October 2019 as a senior US official for the APEC forum and deputy assistant secretary of state to attend the inaugural Pacific Islands Dialogue and Yushan Forum, and met Tsai during that trip.
Photo: CNA
Tsai mentioned at the meeting the US’ donation of 2.5 million COVID-19 vaccine doses to Taiwan in June and the resumption of talks under the Trade and Investment Framework Agreement after a nearly five-year hiatus the same month.
Tsai said she hoped the two countries will continue to strengthen their cooperation in areas such as investment, trade and supply chain security, and move toward the establishment of a bilateral trade agreement.
In terms of security, Tsai thanked the administration of US President Joe Biden for its announcement last week of its first weapons sale to Taiwan.
Oudkirk thanked Tsai for her warm greeting, and said she hoped to work with Tsai and her team to strengthen and expand Taiwan-US relations.
In related news, the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) yesterday said KMT Chairman Johnny Chiang (江啟臣) has reiterated his party’s approach of being “close to the US” and having “peace with the Mainland [China],” as well as its defense of the Republic of China in a virtual discussion on Monday with experts close to US policymakers.
Chiang told participants that the KMT has always supported closer bilateral relations with the US, and that he believes deepening the partnership between Taiwan and the US would be in the US’ interest and conducive to peace and prosperity in the Indo-Pacific region, the party said in a statement.
“The KMT is the most staunch defender of the Constitution and sovereignty of the Republic of China,” the KMT quoted Chiang as saying.
Chiang also said the KMT adopts the position of “close to the US, peace with the Mainland,” and that as long as Washington and Beijing are not entirely hostile toward each other, enhancing relations with the US while improving cross-strait relations were not conflicting ideas, it said.
Former AIT acting chairman David Brown and Andrew Mertha, director of the China Studies program at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies, were among those who attended the meeting, the KMT said.
ANOTHER EMERGES: The CWA yesterday said this year’s fourth storm of the typhoon season had formed in the South China Sea, but was not expected to affect Taiwan Tropical Storm Gaemi has intensified slightly as it heads toward Taiwan, where it is expected to affect the country in the coming days, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. As of 8am yesterday, the 120km-radius storm was 800km southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost tip, moving at 9kph northwest, the agency said. A sea warning for Gaemi could be issued tonight at the earliest, it said, adding that the storm is projected to be closest to Taiwan on Wednesday or Thursday. Gaemi’s potential effect on Taiwan remains unclear, as that would depend on its direction, radius and intensity, forecasters said. Former Weather Forecast
As COVID-19 cases in Japan have been increasing for 10 consecutive weeks, people should get vaccinated before visiting the nation, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said. The centers reported 773 hospitalizations and 124 deaths related to COVID-19 in Taiwan last week. CDC Epidemic Intelligence Center Director Guo Hung-wei (郭宏偉) on Tuesday said the number of weekly COVID-19 cases reported in Japan has been increasing since mid-May and surpassed 55,000 cases from July 8 to July 14. The average number of COVID-19 patients at Japan’s healthcare facilities that week was also 1.39 times that of the week before and KP.3 is the dominant
The Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) working group for Taiwan-related policies is likely to be upgraded to a committee-level body, a report commissioned by the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said. As Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) is increasingly likely to upgrade the CCP’s Central Leading Group for Taiwan Affairs, Taiwanese authorities should prepare by researching Xi and the CCP, the report said. At the third plenary session of the 20th Central Committee of the CCP, which ended on Thursday last week, the party set a target of 2029 for the completion of some tasks, meaning that Xi is likely preparing to
US-CHINA TRADE DISPUTE: Despite Beijing’s offer of preferential treatment, the lure of China has dimmed as Taiwanese and international investors move out Japan and the US have become the favored destinations for Taiwanese graduates as China’s attraction has waned over the years, the Ministry of Labor said. According to the ministry’s latest income and employment advisory published this month, 3,215 Taiwanese university graduates from the class of 2020 went to Japan, surpassing for the first time the 2,881 graduates who went to China. A total of 2,300 graduates from the class of 2021 went to the US, compared with the 2,262 who went to China, the document showed. The trend continued for the class of 2023, of whom 1,460 went to Japan, 1,334 went to