Vice President William Lai (賴清德) yesterday conveyed Taiwan’s desire to join the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue (Quad) to a visiting US delegation.
During a meeting with the bipartisan delegation sent by US President Joe Biden, Lai said he hopes progress could be made on a Taiwan-US bilateral trade agreement, as well as on Taiwan’s bid to join the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership.
He also expressed a desire for Taiwan to join the Quad, a strategic security dialogue between the US, India, Japan and Australia.
Photo: AP
“The visit by this delegation has important implications for security in the Indo-Pacific. Taiwanese have largely welcomed the visit and it has boosted morale in Taiwan,” Lai said.
Lai said he expects progress on trade and economic cooperation as a result of the meeting.
An economic alliance of democracies is strategically important, and is tied to peace and stability in the region, he said.
Former chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff Mike Mullen, who is leading the delegation, said the Ukraine crisis has been seen as a turning point for the US, and an opportunity to rethink its past practices.
Mullen said he would take Lai’s suggestions back to Washington for discussion.
Mullen also offered words of encouragement, saying the US was happy to see Taiwan, which he said is a beacon of democracy in the region, continue to prosper.
The delegation yesterday also met with Premier Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) and Minister of National Defense Chiu Kuo-cheng (邱國正), and attended a dinner hosted by President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) before concluding their 30-hour visit to Taiwan.
Additional reporting by Shelley Shan
VOTERS’ CHOICE: The DPP’s Chen and independent candidate Huang conceded defeat before 7:20pm, with Chiang pledging to remain humble and do his best Legislator Chiang Wan-an (蔣萬安) yesterday won the Taipei mayoral election, with the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) candidate defeating the Democratic Progressive Party’s (DPP) pick, former minister of health and welfare Chen Shih-chung (陳時中), and former Taipei deputy mayor Vivian Huang (黃珊珊), an independent. After polling stations closed at 4pm, the Taipei Election Commission issued a preliminary estimate that voter turnout in the city was about 64 percent, slightly lower than in 2018. Chiang, 43, is to be the youngest Taipei mayor ever, with the KMT regaining the capital after eight years. Chen had an exceptionally high national approval rating when he was head
In the last few days before the local elections on Saturday, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) said it is focusing on 10 regions it considers highly contested areas, while the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) said it is stepping up campaigns across the nation. The DPP considers Keelung, Taipei, Taoyuan, Hsinchu City, and Maoli, Yilan, Nantou, Penghu, Changhua and Yunlin counties as areas where its candidates are facing fierce competition, a party source said. President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文), Vice President William Lai (賴清德) and Premier Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) plan to visit those areas again this week, the source said. The night before the elections,
A naval landing craft on Thursday sank near Kinmen County after wet weather and rough seas flooded its cabin, the Naval Fleet Command said. The vessel, called Landing Craft Mechanized 1326, had completed transport and replenishment missions in the county and was returning to Taiwan proper when surging waves flooded the cabin, the navy said in a statement. The craft’s five crew members tried to bail out the water to no avail, the Navy said. The landing craft eventually sank off Kinmen’s Liaoluo Bay (料羅灣) at 5:18pm, although all crew members rescued, it said, adding that the precise cause of the sinking
TOURIST HOTSPOT: The air charter services would drastically cut travel time to the world-renowned beach with its service to Caticlan, instead of Kalibo Royal Air Philippines is to launch next month direct flights between Taiwan and the Philippine city of Caticlan, a closer entry point to tourist hotspot Boracay. The airline will initially offer six charter flights between Dec. 26 and Jan. 15, with the flight frequency increasing to one per day during the Lunar New Year and winter holidays from Jan. 19 to Feb. 8, it announced at a news conference in Taipei yesterday. The charter flight services will drastically cut travel time to Boracay to about two hours and 45 minutes. Before the new route is launched, travelers from Taiwan who
RSS