The passage of the draft “creating helpful incentives to produce semiconductors (CHIPS) and science act” in the US Congress last month was a recognition of the common interests between Taiwan and the US, and opens the door for better economic exchanges between the two countries, US House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi told reporters yesterday.
The 82-year-old Democrat, who is the highest-ranking US official to visit Taiwan in 25 years, arrived at Taipei International Airport (Songshan airport) on Tuesday night.
“At the same time that the trip is taking place, we have passed the CHIPS for America act in recognition of our common economic interests,” she told a news conference after a meeting with President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文).
Lo Pei-de, Taipei Times
Asked whether she can promise any concrete and tangible benefits that would offset the cost of her trip that Taiwanese are expected to pay in the coming weeks, Pelosi said: “This is something that opens the doors for us for better economic exchanges. Several Taiwanese companies are already planning to invest in chip manufacturing in the US. The entrepreneurial spirit, the intellectual resources and the success of the tech industry in Taiwan has really been a model... With the CHIPS act, we are facilitating to reach our shared goal of increasing our partnership.”
Pelosi said that “a trade agreement might be possible and could occur soon,” without giving any details.
Pelosi yesterday also visited the Legislative Yuan and held a closed-door meeting with Deputy Legislative Speaker Tsai Chi-chang (蔡其昌) and the legislative caucus whips of four political parties.
Photo: Ann Wang, REUTERS
Legislative Yuan President You Si-kun (游錫堃), who could not meet with Pelosi in person after testing positive for COVID-19, spoke with her via videoconference.
Taiwan has become a beacon of democracy for the Chinese-speaking parts of the world after three peaceful transitions of power over the past two decades, You wrote on Facebook.
He praised Pelosi for leading a delegation to Taiwan despite the intimidation from China, adding that this showed the world that Taiwan-US relations are rock solid, and that Taiwan would not be alone in defending democracy.
Taiwan’s People Party (TPP) caucus whip Andy Chiu (邱臣遠) said he told Pelosi that the two sides should quickly sign a trade agreement.
Taiwan and the US “need to tackle inflation, labor shortages and issues related to supply chains with concrete actions,” he said.
Pelosi and the caucus whips also exchanged views on the National Security Law Beijing imposed in Hong Kong and the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), he said.
New Power Party caucus whip Chiu Hsien-chih (邱顯智) told reporters that they discussed human rights issues.
Pelosi holds the view that human rights and security are two sides of the same coin, and must be considered together, Chiu Hsien-chih said.
Pelosi and the caucus whips also discussed the situations in Tibet, Xinjiang and Hong Kong, as well as the plight of human rights lawyers and non-governmental organization employees in China, he said.
They also talked about differences between Taiwan and China, such as the ability of Taiwanese human rights lawyers to not only participate in elections, but hold public office, Chiu Hsien-chih added.
Additional reporting by Huang Ching-hsuan
Actor Darren Wang (王大陸) was sentenced to six months in prison, commutable to a fine, by the New Taipei District Court today for contravening the Personal Data Protection Act (個人資料保護法) in a case linked to an alleged draft-dodging scheme. Wang allegedly paid NT$3.6 million (US$114,380) to an illegal group to help him evade mandatory military service through falsified medical documents, prosecutors said. He transferred the funds to Chen Chih-ming (陳志明), the alleged mastermind of a draft-evasion ring, although he lost contact with him as he was already in detention on fraud charges, they said. Chen is accused of helping a
UNREASONABLE SURVEILLANCE: A camera targeted on an road by a neighbor captured a man’s habitual unsignaled turn into home, netting him dozens of tickets The Taichung High Administrative Court has canceled all 45 tickets given to a man for failing to use a turn signal while driving, as it considered long-term surveillance of his privacy more problematic than the traffic violations. The man, surnamed Tseng (曾), lives in Changhua County and was reported 45 times within a month for failing to signal while driving when he turned into the alley where his residence is. The reports were filed by his neighbor, who set up security cameras that constantly monitored not only the alley but also the door and yard of Tseng’s house. The surveillance occurred from July
SECURITY: Starlink owner Elon Musk has taken pro-Beijing positions, and allowing pro-China companies to control Taiwan’s critical infrastructure is risky, a legislator said Starlink was reluctant to offer services in Taiwan because of the nation’s extremely high penetration rates in 4G and 5G services, the Ministry of Digital Affairs said yesterday. The ministry made the comments at a meeting of the legislature’s Transportation Committee, which reviewed amendments to Article 36 of the Telecommunications Management Act (電信管理法). Article 36 bans foreigners from holding more than 49 percent of shares in public telecommunications networks, while shares foreigners directly and indirectly hold are also capped at 60 percent of the total, unless specified otherwise by law. The amendments, sponsored by Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Ko
A Japan Self-Defense Forces vessel entered the Taiwan Strait yesterday, Japanese media reported. After passing through the Taiwan Strait, the Ikazuchi was to proceed to the South China Sea to take part in a joint military exercise with the US and the Philippines, the reports said. Japan Self-Defense Force vessels were first reported to have passed through the strait in September, 2024, with two further transits taking place in February and June last year, the Asahi Shimbun reported. Yesterday’s transit also marked the first time since Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi took office that a Japanese warship has been sent through the Taiwan
RSS