The US is not concerned that advanced military technologies will be leaked to China through its weapon sales to Taiwan because Taiwan is capable of protecting such technology, the top US envoy to Taiwan said yesterday.
“I don’t really think there is a great concern about the transfer of technology from Taiwan because I think that Taiwan has very effective means in the controlling of technology,” director of the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) Stephen Young said at a biannual press conference.
Washington welcomes the current detente between Taiwan and China, but is keenly aware of Beijing’s rapid military build-up against Taiwan and Taiwan’s eagerness to purchase more arms, Young said.
“I think that the [US President Barack] Obama administration will calculate the requests of our Taiwan friends in that light and act at an appropriate time when there are decisions about what types of defensive weapons might make the most sense to provide this island,” he said.
Describing the triangular relations between Taipei, Beijing and Washington, Young said there have been times in the past when one side of the triangle was stronger than others, but that one of the promising aspects at present is that all three sides are fairly strong, and improving and growing.
“An important point here is that President Ma [Ying-jeou (馬英九)] and his government, despite its very major focus on improving relations with Beijing, continues to believe it is appropriate and necessary to have an active security cooperation relationship with the US,” he said.
He said that Washington would continue to look closely at Taiwan’s arms requests and that it would not consult with Beijing on its security cooperation or arms decisions involving Taiwan.
“That’s the framework. The decision itself will be made by Washington under that framework at a time and in a nature that reflect our own national interests as well as our commitments to Taiwan,” Young said.
He said the efforts of all sides can reduce the possibility of Taiwan becoming a land mine in US-China relations, as some have suggested.
ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY JENNY W. HSU
An undersea cable to Penghu County has been severed, the Ministry of Digital Affairs said today, with a Chinese-funded ship suspected of being responsible. It comes just a month after a Chinese ship was suspected of severing an undersea cable north of Keelung Harbor. The National Communications and Cyber Security Center received a report at 3:03am today from Chunghwa Telecom that the No. 3 cable from Taiwan to Penghu was severed 14.7km off the coast of Tainan, the Ministry of Digital Affairs said. The Coast Guard Administration (CGA) upon receiving a report from Chunghwa Telecom began to monitor the Togolese-flagged Hong Tai (宏泰)
A cat named Mikan (蜜柑) has brought in revenue of more than NT$10 million (US$305,390) for the Kaohsiung MRT last year. Mikan, born on April 4, 2020, was a stray cat before being adopted by personnel of Kaohsiung MRT’s Ciaotou Sugar Refinery Station. Mikan was named after a Japanese term for mandarin orange due to his color and because he looks like an orange when curled up. He was named “station master” of Ciaotou Sugar Refinery Station in September 2020, and has since become famous. With Kaohsiung MRT’s branding, along with the release of a set of cultural and creative products, station master Mikan
RISING TOURISM: A survey showed that tourist visits increased by 35 percent last year, while newly created attractions contributed almost half of the growth Changhua County’s Lukang Old Street (鹿港老街) and its surrounding historical area clinched first place among Taiwan’s most successful tourist attractions last year, while no location in eastern Taiwan achieved a spot in the top 20 list, the Tourism Administration said. The listing was created by the Tourism Administration’s Forward-looking Tourism Policy Research office. Last year, the Lukang Old Street and its surrounding area had 17.3 million visitors, more than the 16 million visitors for the Wenhua Road Night Market (文化路夜市) in Chiayi City and 14.5 million visitors at Tainan’s Anping (安平) historical area, it said. The Taipei 101 skyscraper and its environs —
Taiwan on Friday said a New Zealand hamburger restaurant has apologized for a racist remark to a Taiwanese customer after reports that it had first apologized to China sparked outrage in Taiwan. An image posted on Threads by a Taiwanese who ate at Fergburger in Queenstown showed that their receipt dated Sunday last week included the words “Ching Chang,” a racial slur. The Chinese Consulate-General in Christchurch in a statement on Thursday said it had received and accepted an apology from the restaurant over the incident. The comment triggered an online furor among Taiwanese who saw it as an insult to the
RSS