Former US secretary of defense Mark Esper is leading a three-member US think tank delegation that arrived in Taiwan yesterday, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said.
Esper, who served as US defense chief from 2019 to 2020 under former US president Donald Trump, is visiting until Thursday with Barry Pavel, senior vice president and director of the Washington-based Atlantic Council, and Stefano Stefanini, a nonresident senior fellow at the Atlantic Council and a former permanent representative of Italy to NATO.
During their visit, the three are to meet with senior government officials, think tanks and business representatives, to exchange views on the security situation in the Indo-Pacific region and Taiwan’s overall relations with the US and Europe, the ministry said in a statement.
Photo: AP
Calling Esper a long-term friend of Taiwan, the ministry said that he has repeatedly reiterated his support of democratic Taiwan, while he was defense secretary and after leaving office.
As Russia’s war in Ukraine has increased international focus on the authoritarian threat faced by Taiwan, the visit would hopefully help policymakers in the US and Europe gain a better understanding of Taiwan, increasing their support for the nation, the ministry said.
Meanwhile, the ministry said in a separate statement that European Parliament Vice President Nicola Beer is to arrive in Taiwan today for a three-day visit.
It would be the highest-level visit made by a European Parliament member to Taiwan, the ministry said.
FINAL COUNTDOWN: About 50,000 attended a pro-recall rally yesterday, while the KMT and the TPP plan to rally against the recall votes today Democracy activists, together with arts and education representatives, yesterday organized a motorcade, while thousands gathered on Ketagalan Boulevard in Taipei in the evening in support of tomorrow’s recall votes. Recall votes for 24 Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) lawmakers and suspended Hsinchu City mayor Ann Kao (高虹安) are to be held tomorrow, while recall votes for seven other KMT lawmakers are scheduled for Aug. 23. The afternoon motorcade was led by the Spring Breeze Culture and Arts Foundation, the Tyzen Hsiao Foundation and the Friends of Lee Teng-hui Association, and was joined by delegates from the Taiwan Statebuilding Party and the Taiwan Solidarity
Instead of threatening tariffs on Taiwan-made chips, the US should try to reinforce cooperation with Taiwan on semiconductor development to take on challenges from the People’s Republic of China (PRC), a Taiwanese think tank said. The administration of US President Donald Trump has threatened to impose across-the-board import duties of 32 percent on Taiwan-made goods and levy a separate tariff on semiconductors, which Taiwan is hoping to avoid. The Research Institute for Democracy, Society, and Emerging Technology (DSET), a National Science and Technology Council think tank, said that US efforts should focus on containing China’s semiconductor rise rather than impairing Taiwan. “Without
An SOS message in a bottle has been found in Ireland that is believed to have come from the Taiwanese captain of fishing vessel Yong Yu Sing No. 18 (永裕興18號), who has been missing without a trace for over four years, along with nine Indonesian crew members. The vessel, registered to Suao (蘇澳), went missing near Hawaii on Dec. 30, 2020. The ship has since been recovered, but the 10 crew members have never been found. The captain, surnamed Lee (李), is believed to have signed the note with his name. A post appeared on Reddit on Tuesday after a man
President William Lai (賴清德) today condemned an alleged attempt by two Chinese to snatch a letter of congratulations handed to Taiwan’s taekwondo team after they won silver at the Summer World University Games in Essen, Germany, yesterday. A Chinese man and woman reportedly tried to snatch a congratulatory letter to athletes Hung Jiun-yi (洪俊義), Jung Jiun-jie (鍾俊傑) and Huang Cho-cheng (黃卓乘) from the Ministry of Education, and then argued with media employees. “Why are you taking our things?” the media employees asked. “Does that say Chinese Taipei?” the two Chinese reportedly said. Following the incident, Sports Administration Director-General Cheng Shih-chung (鄭世忠) wrote on
RSS