US foreign policy experts yesterday suggested expanding the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) to meet diplomatic needs and accommodate additional security personnel by adding more facilities and staff and appointing an AIT chairperson.
The US Senate Committee on Foreign Relations held a hearing on Taiwan policy in Washington yesterday, inviting Bonnie Glaser, managing director of the Indo-Pacific program at the German Marshall Fund, Lauren Dickey, former senior advisor for Taiwan policy at the US Department of Defense, and Rush Doshi, former US National Security Council deputy senior director for China and Taiwan, to give testimonies.
Dickey said that US and Taiwan cooperation, especially regarding security, continues to increase, but AIT, which acts as the US’ unofficial embassy in Taiwan, is facing space and staffing constraints that make it unable to carry out current US policy objectives.
Photo: CNA
The US Department of State should review AIT’s facility and staffing requirements to ensure it can “support the expanded tempo of security cooperation activities,” Dickey said, adding that it should consider additional facilities.
She further noted that “the absence of a Senate-confirmed AIT director in Taipei and an AIT chairperson in Washington risks misalignment between AIT operations and broader US policy.”
While the US Constitution gives the president authority to nominate foreign ambassadors and requires US Senate confirmation, the AIT director in Taipei is currently appointed by the US secretary of state and does not require US Senate confirmation.
Laura Rosenberger served as AIT chairperson under the administration of former US president Joe Biden, but the administration of US President Donald Trump has yet to announce a replacement.
In her testimony, Glaser suggested increasing appropriations for AIT staffing and authorizing additional interagency detailees to AIT to support visits by Congressional and staff delegations, as well as US officials.
The US Department of State yesterday told CNA that it would continue to assess its global deployments to ensure it can better represent the US public in addressing today’s challenges.
ALIGNED THINKING: Taiwan and Japan have a mutual interest in trade, culture and engineering, and can work together for stability, Cho Jung-tai said Taiwan and Japan are two like-minded countries willing to work together to form a “safety barrier” in the Indo-Pacific region, Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) yesterday said at the opening ceremony of the 35th Taiwan-Japan Modern Engineering and Technology Symposium in Taipei. Taiwan and Japan are close geographically and closer emotionally, he added. Citing the overflowing of a barrier lake in the Mataian River (馬太鞍溪) in September, Cho said the submersible water level sensors given by Japan during the disaster helped Taiwan monitor the lake’s water levels more accurately. Japan also provided a lot of vaccines early in the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic,
Kaohsiung Mayor Chen Chi-mai (陳其邁) on Monday announced light shows and themed traffic lights to welcome fans of South Korean pop group Twice to the port city. The group is to play Kaohsiung on Saturday as part of its “This Is For” world tour. It would be the group’s first performance in Taiwan since its debut 10 years ago. The all-female group consists of five South Koreans, three Japanese and Tainan’s Chou Tzu-yu (周子瑜), the first Taiwan-born and raised member of a South Korean girl group. To promote the group’s arrival, the city has been holding a series of events, including a pop-up
TEMPORAL/SPIRITUAL: Beijing’s claim that the next Buddhist leader must come from China is a heavy-handed political maneuver that will fall flat-faced, experts said China’s requirement that the Dalai Lama’s reincarnation to be born in China and approved by Beijing has drawn criticism, with experts at a forum in Taipei yesterday saying that if Beijing were to put forth its own Dalai Lama, the person would not be recognized by the Tibetan Buddhist community. The experts made a remarks at the two-day forum hosted by the Tibet Religious Foundation of His Holiness the Dalai Lama titled: “The Snow Land Forum: Finding Common Ground on Tibet.” China says it has the right to determine the Dalai Lama’s reincarnation, as it claims sovereignty over Tibet since ancient times,
Temperatures in some parts of Taiwan are expected to fall sharply to lows of 15°C later this week as seasonal northeasterly winds strengthen, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said today. It is to be the strongest cold wave to affect northern Taiwan this autumn, while Chiayi County in the southwest and some parts of central Taiwan are likely to also see lower temperatures due to radiational cooling, which occurs under conditions of clear skies, light winds and dry weather, the CWA said. Across Taiwan, temperatures are to fall gradually this week, dropping to 15°C to 16°C in the early hours of Wednesday
RSS