Taiwan is to deepen its cooperation with the US and expand this partnership to regional allies to create peace and stability, Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said yesterday in a banquet meeting with a delegation of US senators.
Lin thanked the US Congress for its bipartisan support of Taiwan and efforts to promote regional security in the Indo-Pacific region.
Photo courtesy of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs
US Senator Pete Ricketts, chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee’s Subcommittee on East Asia, the Pacific, and International Cybersecurity Policy, led a cross-party delegation to Taiwan this week as part of a visit to the Indo-Pacific region.
All three US senators in the delegation, which includes US senators Chris Coons and Ted Budd in addition to Ricketts, are steadfast supporters of Taiwan, Lin said.
Lin pointed out that Ricketts last year promoted the BOLSTER Act, encouraging European countries to work with the US to strengthen Taiwan’s security and oppose China’s misinterpretation of UN Resolution 2758.
This is the most comprehensive bill that the US Congress has put forward in recent years to promote joint support of Taiwan from the US and Europe, Lin said.
Coons introduced the Taiwan Assurance Implementation Act this year, requesting the US Department of State to regularly review the guidelines for relations with Taiwan and submit relevant reports to Congress at least once every five years, he said.
Budd has cosigned numerous pro-Taiwan bills, including ones on resolving double taxation between the US and Taiwan, he added.
At the banquet last night, Lin thanked all three senators for promoting bipartisan support of Taiwan and strengthening the US-Taiwan relationship.
In recent years, China has unilaterally undermined peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait through large-scale military exercises, legal warfare and various “gray zone” tactics, Lin said.
Facing these threats from China, Taiwan would continue to strengthen its self-defense capabilities, increase its defense spending to at least 3 percent of its GDP and hopes to upgrade its asymmetrical warfare capabilities by cooperating with the US, he said.
Recently, the US and Taiwan have deepened their cooperation in technology and energy, demonstrating Taiwan’s desire to establish a mutually beneficial partnership with the US, Lin said.
This includes Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC) increasing its investment in the US, and a letter of intent signed between CPC Corp, Taiwan (CPC) and Alaska Gasline Development Corp, he said.
Lin said he hopes that the two nations could develop a “joint fleet” model to integrate their industrial chains and strengthen their economies and national security.
Building on the successful US-Taiwan partnership, Lin said he hopes that like-minded democratic countries in the first island chain, like the Philippines, could closely cooperate and support each other to promote regional peace and prosperity.
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