Former US national security adviser and outspoken China hawk John Bolton is scheduled to arrive in Taiwan today for a week-long trip during which he is to speak at two events, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said yesterday.
Bolton was invited by two pro-Taiwanese independence non-governmental organizations, the World Taiwanese Congress (WTC) and Formosan Association for Public Affairs (FAPA), to speak at the WTC’s annual meeting on Saturday and FAPA’s 40th anniversary banquet on Monday.
Calling Bolton a long-time friend of Taiwan, the ministry said in a news release that it would offer all necessary assistance to facilitate the former US official’s seven-day stay in Taipei, which ends on Tuesday.
Photo: AFP
Bolton is to deliver a speech titled “Maintaining long-term peace and security for Taiwan” at the WTC’s Global Taiwan National Affairs Symposium, an annual meeting focused on discussing Taiwan’s future, WTC head Susan Chang (程韻如) said.
“Bolton gave a talk virtually at the WTC gathering last year, and his arguments resonated with many of us. He also said he would like to visit Taiwan again. With the easing of the COVID-19 pandemic, we invited him to attend the event this year,” Chang said by telephone.
At the FAPA banquet, Bolton is expected to meet with President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文), Vice President William Lai (賴清德) and Robert Tsao (曹興誠), founder of contract chipmaker United Microelectronics Corp, the association’s office in Taipei said.
A supporter of US military intervention around the globe, Bolton has long advocated a hard line on China and US recognition of Taiwan as a sovereign nation.
Prior to serving as US national security adviser under former US president Donald Trump from April 2018 to September 2019, he was US ambassador to the UN from 2005 to 2006.
As a foreign policy adviser to former US president George W. Bush, he was a major supporter of the Iraq War, and has continued to defend the invasion, which began in 2003 and led to the displacement of hundreds of thousands of people.
In 2019, he became the first US national security adviser to meet with his Taiwanese counterpart since 1979. He met then-National Security Council secretary-general David Lee (李大維) in Washington, leading to protests from China.
In January, Bolton said he might run for the Republican Party’s nomination for president against Trump, telling the New York Post that “Trump’s support within the party itself is in terminal decline.”
He has not officially announced his candidacy.
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