President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) yesterday urged like-minded nations to unite in safeguarding democracy and freedom, while calling for deeper ties with the US to contribute to regional prosperity.
Tsai made the remarks while welcoming a delegation of academics from Washington to the Presidential Office yesterday. They included German Marshall Fund Indo-Pacific Program managing director Bonnie Glaser, Eurasia Group China practice managing director Rick Waters, American Enterprise Institute senior fellow Zack Cooper and Freeman chair in China Studies at the US Center for Strategic and International Studies Jude Blanchette.
Tsai said that with the Taiwan Relations Act turning 45 next month, she looks forward to exchanging opinions on Taipei-Washington relations with the delegation.
Photo: Screen grab from the Presidential office’s Web site
The international situation has evolved since the act was passed in 1979, and the legislation has become an important cornerstone of maintaining peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait, she said.
Tsai thanked the delegation for continuing to monitor the situation in the Strait and publishing reports that help the international community better understand the crucial role Taiwan plays in the region.
As a responsible member of the international community, Taiwan has always been committed to maintaining peace and stability in the region, she said.
After the first agreement under the US-Taiwan Initiative on 21st-Century Trade was signed last year, it is hoped that Taipei and Washington would continue to bolster cooperation in the digital economy, emerging technology and telecommunications security, she said.
Tsai also asked the delegation to use their influence to help Taiwan and the US deepen their cooperation in various fields and jointly contribute to regional prosperity and development.
Glaser praised Tsai for her firm leadership over the past eight years, saying it has helped safeguard cross-strait peace and stability, Taiwan’s democracy and the freedom of Taiwanese.
In other news, CNN host Fareed Zakaria underlined the importance of dialogue between the US, Taiwan and China to avoid conflicts in the Strait in an op-ed published on CNN.com on Sunday.
In the article, titled “The world’s most dangerous place has only gotten more dangerous,” Zakaria attributed Taiwan’s situation to the expanding geopolitical rivalry between the US and China.
The attitudes of leaders in Washington and Beijing toward each other have gone “from benign, to wary, to hostile” in the past few years, he wrote, adding that Taiwan “sits at the heart of US-China relations.”
While Beijing sees unification with Taiwan as its historical mission, “Washington has been willing to accept China’s claims on Taiwan as long as it did not use coercion to achieve them,” he said.
The US’ stance, which is shared by many of its allies in Asia, is the “status quo” that most Taiwanese hope to maintain, he said.
As such, cross-strait issues “will need to be managed rather than solved,” he said.
“All three sides [the US, China and Taiwan] should keep talking to ensure there are no misperceptions or miscalculations,” he added.
Zakaria also warned about the consequences of mismanaged tensions, which could possibly lead to war — a “lose-lose-lose for all three parties” and the whole world.
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