The reopening of a Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) liaison office in the US signaled a “return” for the party’s voice in Washington, KMT Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) said on Wednesday.
Chu, who is on an 11-day trip to the US, attended a plaque unveiling ceremony to mark the official reopening of the KMT’s representative office on the top floor of a building on 601 Pennsylvania Ave in Washington.
The new mission, headed by KMT Department of International Affairs director Alexander Huang (黃介正), would work to garner support in Washington for “Taiwan, the Republic of China and Taiwanese,” Chu said.
Photo: CNA
The party’s representation disappeared in Washington following the closure of a previous liaison office shortly after Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) of the KMT became president in 2008, Chu said.
Taiwan needs support from the international community at a time of heightened tensions, in particular from the US, Chu said.
He later told reporters that the KMT has been a “pro-US, pro-democracy and pro-peace” party dedicated to defending Taiwan since its founding more than a century ago.
The KMT was established in Hawaii in 1894 as the Revive China Society, and in 1919 was reconstituted under its current name in Shanghai, China.
After retreating to Taiwan in 1949, the KMT-controlled government ruled Taiwan under a one-party authoritarian system and imposed martial law for nearly four decades until the beginning of democratization in the late 1980s.
Chu said the KMT had been “mislabeled” as “pro-China,” and is opposed to China’s growing military and economic pressure on Taiwan, such as increasing incursions by Chinese military aircraft into Taiwan’s air defense identification zone.
“Any assertive maneuvers will do nothing but cause a sense of aversion among Taiwanese,” Chu said.
The chairman urged both sides of the Taiwan Strait to seek dialogue and exchanges to foster amicable relations and find common ground while respecting their differences.
The ceremony was attended by US Department of State Office of Taiwan Coordination Director Dan Biers, former US envoy to APEC Robert Wang (王曉岷) and David Brown, a visiting academic at Johns Hopkins University specializing in China studies.
Brown said he was pleased to see the KMT establishing a new presence in Washington, adding that the office would make a tremendous contribution to fostering trust and cooperation between Taiwan and the US.
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