Taiwan is to strive to become a “force for good” in the international community and seek to make further contributions to democracy, peace and prosperity, president-elect William Lai (賴清德) said yesterday.
Lai made the remarks during a meeting with a visiting delegation from the Project 2049 Institute led by Randal Schriver at the Presidential Office in Taipei.
He welcomed the delegation, saying that they, similar to Taiwan, represented a stabilizing force in the world.
Photo: CNA
Lai commended the experts for expressing positive and meaningful opinions on maintaining the nation’s safety, the stability of cross-strait relations and peace in the Indo-Pacific region.
Lai said that the delegation’s visit, which took place shortly after US President Joe Biden met with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida during the US-Japan Summit on Wednesday, also held symbolic significance.
Among the range of issues Biden and Kishida agreed upon was the pledge to ensure peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait and to stabilize peace within the Indo-Pacific region, Lai quoted a media report as saying.
The vice president said that he would develop Taiwan’s economy, look after Taiwan’s citizenry and devote efforts to augment Taiwan’s national defenses, maintain cross-strait equilibrium and uphold peace in the Indo-Pacific region.
Yesterday was the first time he and Lai met after Taiwan’s presidential elections in January and that congratulations were in order, Schriver said.
Schriver also said that Lai would soon head a prospering democratic country that respects human rights and religious freedom, and would undoubtedly face many more challenges when he takes over.
He looked forward to hearing what Lai had to say regarding the new administration, and what kind of support and assistance he required of the delegation, Schriver added.
Thanking Lai for mentioning the US-Japan summit, Schriver also commented on former Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe’s proposal of a free and open Indo-Pacific region, adding that the US has done much work under that framework — of which Taiwan plays an important part — in hopes of realizing Abe’s vision.
NATIONAL SECURITY: Authorities are working to confirm the identities of the military personnel involved and investigating possible illegal conduct and regulatory violations Authorities are probing possible national security implications after Kinmen police and immigration officers on Sunday found a Chinese woman allegedly posing as a tourist while engaging in prostitution involving more than 10 military personnel. The woman, surnamed Chen (陳), has since been deported, authorities said, adding that investigators are still working to confirm the identities of those implicated, as the records only listed code names and aliases. The case stemmed from a report received by the Kinmen District Prosecutors’ Office on Friday last week from the Jinhu Precinct of the Kinmen County Police Bureau. On Sunday, police, along with the National Immigration
REASONS FOR TRAVEL: An assistant professor said that proposed amendments to penalize drivers if they used drugs overseas would not deter people from traveling People who operate a motor vehicle under the influence of marijuana would have their driver’s license revoked, even if they used the substance while overseas, the Ministry of Transportation and Communications said yesterday, citing proposed amendments to the Road Traffic Management and Penalty Act (道路交通管理處罰條例). The amendments would also authorize the government to revoke the licenses of people determined to have used Category 1 or Category 2 narcotics, even if they were not operating a vehicle while under the influence of drugs, as well as ban them from taking the license test for three years, the ministry said. People aged 18 or
GLOBALGIVING: ‘ Caving to external pressure is not acceptable for an organization that has cultivated justice reform and human rights for 30 years,’ one NGO said A slew of non-government organizations (NGOs) have withdrawn from the GlobalGiving fundraising platform after it announced it would use “Chinese Taipei” instead of “Taiwan” from next month. The Taiwan Good Rice Association wrote on Facebook on Friday that it was informed on April 28 via a teleconference call of the change, which was made because the platform wanted to operate in China. Taiwan Good Rice is to terminate all cooperative relationships with GlobalGiving in response to the platform’s “unilateral and non-negotiable” decision to remove references to Taiwan, the NGO said. “Taiwan is in the official name of Taiwan Good Rice Association and the
HEAVY WEATHER: Typhoon Jangmi is due to crash straight into the Ryukyus as airlines look to shift flights to larger aircraft or cancel flights to Okinawa entirely Taiwan’s international air carriers announced flight adjustments over the weekend as Typhoon Jangmi is forecast to hit the Ryukyu Islands today and tomorrow. The Central Weather Administration (CWA) upgraded Jangmi from a tropical storm to a typhoon at 8am yesterday, with the eye located 580km south of Naha city. It was moving north at 19kph. Today, China Airlines’ CI-120, CI-121, CI-122 and CI-123 flights between Taoyuan and Naha, Okinawa, have been canceled as well as CI-132 and CI-133 between Kaohsiung and Naha. EVA Air’s BR-112, BR-113, BR-186 and BR-185 flights between Taoyuan and Naha are also canceled. Low-cost carrier Tigerair Taiwan canceled IT-230,
RSS