US nominee for ambassador to the UN Elise Stefanik, who is currently a member of the House of Representatives, has pledged to work toward Taiwan’s maximum meaningful participation in international organizations.
“I am committed to making sure that Taiwan has the most maximum meaningful participation within the UN system, as it should in all international organizations,” Stefanik said during a Senate confirmation hearing in Washington on Tuesday.
Stefanik made the comment in response to questions about how she would address China’s growing influence within the world body and its blocking of Taiwan’s participation in the UN system if confirmed as ambassador.
Photo: CNA
The Republican congresswoman also emphasized her support for Taiwan, mentioning in particular voting in Congress in favor of defense aid to strengthen Taiwan’s deterrence capabilities.
As for countering China, Stefanik underlined the need to work closely with US allies and partners to ensure “we’re running candidates, either American or allied nations, in the elections process for key leadership posts within the UN system.”
“We have to be vigilant both in the long-term and the short-term to make sure that China is not able to make significant inroads ... in international organizations,” Stefanik added.
In addition, the envoy-designate said the US should keep a close eye on all the documents and statements released in Chinese by the UN, arguing Beijing has tried to insert “specific language [in those documents] which is counter to our values.”
Stefanik, a Republican representative since 2015, has been very critical of China and is an ally of US President Donald Trump.
She is currently a senior member of the House Committee on Armed Services and a member of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence.
Seven of the 17 NT$10 million (US$311,604) winning receipts from the November-December uniform invoice lottery remain unclaimed as of today, the Ministry of Finance said, urging winners to redeem their prizes by May 5. The reminder comes ahead of the release of the winning numbers for the January-February lottery tomorrow. Among the unclaimed receipts was one for a NT$173 phone bill in Keelung, while others were for a NT$5,913 purchase at Costco in Taipei's Neihu District (內湖), a NT$49 purchase at a FamilyMart in New Taipei City's Tamsui District (淡水), and a NT$500 purchase at a tea shop in New Taipei City's
Taiwanese officials were shown the first of 66 F-16V fighter jets purchased by Taiwan from the United States, the Ministry of National Defense said yesterday, adding the aircraft has completed an initial flight test and is expected to be delivered later this year. A delegation led by Deputy Minister of National Defense Hsu Szu-chien (徐斯儉) visited Lockheed Martin’s F-16 C/D Block 70 (also known as F-16V) assembly line in South Carolina on March 16 to view the aircraft. The jet will undergo a final acceptance flight in the US before being delivered to Taiwan, the
Deliveries of delayed F-16V jets are expected to begin in September, Minister of National Defense Wellington Koo (顧立雄) said today, after senior defense officials visited the US last week. The US in 2019 approved a US$8 billion sale of Lockheed Martin F-16 jets to Taiwan, a deal that would take the nation’s F-16 fleet to more than 200 jets, but the project has been hit by issues including software problems. Koo appeared today before a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee, which is discussing different versions of the special defense budget this week. The committee is questioning officials today,
TALENT SCOUTING: The university is investing substantial funds in its future to bring in the kind of researchers that would keep the college internationally competitive National Taiwan University (NTU) plans to invest NT$2 billion (US$62.6 million) to launch two programs aimed at attracting and retaining top research talent, university president Chen Wen-chang (陳文章) said yesterday. The funding would support the “Palm Grove Scholars Project,” which targets academics aged 40 to 55. Up to 20 scholars would be selected, each receiving as much as NT$10 million annually, Chen said. The initiative is designed to attract leading researchers to Taiwan and strengthen NTU’s global competitiveness by fostering a more research-friendly environment and expanding international collaboration, he said. NTU is also introducing a “Hong Hu” chair grant, which would provide Palm
RSS