Officials from the US and Taiwan plan to hold trade talks in Taipei this month, highlighting the expansion of ties between the two sides in the face of increasingly fraught relations with China.
The US would send a delegation led by US Assistant Trade Representative Terry McCartin and officials from other government agencies for four days of meetings scheduled to start on Saturday next week, a statement on Wednesday from the American Institute in Taiwan said.
Office of Trade Negotiations Deputy Trade Representative Yang Jen-ni (楊珍妮) is to lead the Taiwanese side in the talks with input from government agencies, the Cabinet said in a statement.
Photo: Tyrone Siu, Reuters
Washington and Taipei have been forging closer ties as Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) ramps up military, diplomatic and economic pressure on the nation.
President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) rejects the “one country, two systems” governance model Beijing proposes, and instead says that Taiwan is a de facto independent nation deserving greater global recognition.
Last year, China increased its incursions of warplanes into areas around the nation, dispatching about 1,700 flights, almost double the number in 2021.
It also held unprecedented military drills in August in response to a visit by then-US House of Representatives speaker Nancy Pelosi, the first sitting US House speaker to visit Taipei in 25 years.
Last month, Taiwan announced plans to extend its compulsory military service to one year from four months, signaling to Beijing it is serious about defending itself.
Next week’s trade talks are part of the US-Taiwan Initiative on 21st Century Trade that was launched in June last year to reach an agreement in areas including trade facilitation and regulatory practices.
Officials held “conceptual discussions” in New York in November.
The initiative was announced weeks after US President Joe Biden launched the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework in May, a deal designed to counter China’s influence in the region that did not feature Taiwan, despite more than 50 senators urging its inclusion.
PRAISE: Japanese visitor Takashi Kubota said the Taiwanese temple architecture images showcased in the AI Art Gallery were the most impressive displays he saw Taiwan does not have an official pavilion at the World Expo in Osaka, Japan, because of its diplomatic predicament, but the government-backed Tech World pavilion is drawing interest with its unique recreations of works by Taiwanese artists. The pavilion features an artificial intelligence (AI)-based art gallery showcasing works of famous Taiwanese artists from the Japanese colonial period using innovative technologies. Among its main simulated displays are Eastern gouache paintings by Chen Chin (陳進), Lin Yu-shan (林玉山) and Kuo Hsueh-hu (郭雪湖), who were the three young Taiwanese painters selected for the East Asian Painting exhibition in 1927. Gouache is a water-based
A magnitude 4.1 earthquake struck eastern Taiwan's Hualien County at 2:23pm today, according to the Central Weather Administration (CWA). The epicenter of the temblor was 5.4 kilometers northeast of Hualien County Hall, at a depth of 34.9 km, according to the CWA. The earthquake's intensity, which gauges the actual effect of a temblor, was the highest in Hualien County, where it measured 2 on Taiwan's 7-tier intensity scale. The quake also measured an intensity of 1 in Yilan county, Taichung, Nantou County, Changhua County and Yunlin County, the CWA said. There were no immediate reports of damage or injuries.
OFF-TARGET: More than 30,000 participants were expected to take part in the Games next month, but only 6,550 foreign and 19,400 Taiwanese athletes have registered Taipei city councilors yesterday blasted the organizers of next month’s World Masters Games over sudden timetable and venue changes, which they said have caused thousands of participants to back out of the international sporting event, among other organizational issues. They also cited visa delays and political interference by China as reasons many foreign athletes are requesting refunds for the event, to be held from May 17 to 30. Jointly organized by the Taipei and New Taipei City governments, the games have been rocked by numerous controversies since preparations began in 2020. Taipei City Councilor Lin Yen-feng (林延鳳) said yesterday that new measures by
President William Lai (賴清德) has appointed former vice president Chen Chien-jen (陳建仁) to attend the late Pope Francis’ funeral at the Vatican City on Saturday on his behalf, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said today. The Holy See announced Francis’ funeral would take place on Saturday at 10am in St Peter’s Square. The ministry expressed condolences over Francis’ passing and said that Chen would represent Taiwan at the funeral and offer condolences in person. Taiwan and the Vatican have a long-standing and close diplomatic relationship, the ministry said. Both sides agreed to have Chen represent Taiwan at the funeral, given his Catholic identity and
RSS