Washington rejected Taiwan’s application to join the US border preclearance program because it aims to first prioritize areas with a greater security threat, Minister of Foreign Affairs Joseph Wu (吳釗燮) said yesterday, adding that Taiwan is still pursuing membership.
Taiwan in 2020 applied to set up a US Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) preclearance facility at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport, meant to expedite travel to the US by allowing passengers to submit to immigration and customs inspections before boarding their flight.
However, the CBP last year rejected the application.
Photo: Ann Wang, Reuters
At a routine hearing of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee, Wu denied a legislator’s claim that the application was rejected due to the airport’s relatively small capacity.
The actual reason was because Taiwan does a good job at maintaining security and therefore does not pose a considerable security threat to the US, he said, adding that Washington aims to concentrate on other places first.
One major benefit for the US in setting up preclearance facilities is to catch security threats before they touch down on US soil, rather than turning them away once they have arrived.
However, Taiwan is still seeking acceptance into the program, Wu added.
Apart from the US Department of Homeland Security, which is not discussing the matter at present, other US agencies agree that Taiwan should be included, he said.
In December last year, a group of US senators introduced a bill that would require the CBP to submit a report analyzing the effects of setting up a preclearance facility in Taiwan and other Indo-Pacific nations.
It has not yet been put to a vote.
Meanwhile, Wu denied that Taiwan’s representative to Russia was “rebuked” over something the minister had written on Twitter last month criticizing Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine.
Taiwan People’s Party Legislator Chiu Chen-yuan (邱臣遠) said at the hearing that he had received a tip that Representative to Russia Keng Chung-yung (耿中庸) was summoned to the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and rebuked for something Wu had written on Twitter on Feb. 26, two days after Taipei formally condemned the invasion.
Calling it “Russia’s savage war,” Wu wrote that “Taiwan stays vigilant & knows who to side with. We condemn & sanction the aggressor.”
Wu confirmed that Keng attended a meeting at the ministry, but denied mention of the Twitter post.
The meeting was part of regular interactions between the two sides “to exchange opinions,” he said.
Wu also reiterated that sanctions on Russia would not affect Taiwan any more than other countries, even with its inclusion among 48 countries and territories on Russia’s “unfriendly” list.
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