In a decision that departs from his predecessors, retiring American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) Director William Stanton yesterday announced his next step — becoming a teacher at Taipei American School.
“I have enjoyed living in Taiwan so much that I have decided to stay on here to teach at the Taipei American School,” Stanton said in a speech at an AIT reception held to mark the 236th anniversary of the US’ Independence Day.
The announcement drew a round of applause from the audience of government and diplomatic officials.
WARNING: EXCESSIVE CONSUMPTION OF ALCOHOL CAN DAMAGE YOUR HEALTH
Photo: Chien Jung-fong, Taipei Times
“If I go back to Washington, there are lots of opportunities [to work] in think tanks or to become a lobbyist, but that’s not what I like. I hope I can stay in Taiwan,” Stanton said later in Mandarin on the sidelines of the event.
Scheduled to retire at the end of this month after a diplomatic career spanning 34 years, the 65-year-old Stanton, who holds a doctorate in English literature, said he would teach US-Taiwan-China relations, comparative government, politics and literature, including William Shakespeare, Jonathan Swift and George Orwell.
“My life here in Taiwan is comfortable, and it’s convenient. Of course, things will be different after I step down [as AIT director,] since I will be then a small potato, but I am extremely happy that I can stay in Taiwan. I have made some very good friends here, and they are all very warm to me,” he said.
Earlier in his speech, Stanton said that the founding fathers of the US came together and risked their lives for freedom and the universal truth that all governments derive their power from the consent of the governed on July 4, 1776.
From that day until now, people around the world, both near and far from the US, have been fighting for freedom and just government, and the people of Taiwan “know how precious freedom is” and freedom “is the fundamental shared value that brings together Americans and Taiwanese,” Stanton said.
“Having served around the world in countries that are free and countries that are not free, I can frankly say that I prefer celebrating this day in a free land like Taiwan,” said Stanton, who was appointed to the position in 2009.
Stanton is the third foreign diplomat recently to choose to continue living in Taiwan after retirement.
Henrik Bystrom, former head of Exportradet Taipei, the Swedish trade council in Taiwan, was granted permanent residency in November 2010. Menno Goedhart, the former Dutch trade representative to Taiwan, began a Dutch heritage project at National Cheng Kung University in May last year.
US President Donald Trump yesterday announced sweeping "reciprocal tariffs" on US trading partners, including a 32 percent tax on goods from Taiwan that is set to take effect on Wednesday. At a Rose Garden event, Trump declared a 10 percent baseline tax on imports from all countries, with the White House saying it would take effect on Saturday. Countries with larger trade surpluses with the US would face higher duties beginning on Wednesday, including Taiwan (32 percent), China (34 percent), Japan (24 percent), South Korea (25 percent), Vietnam (46 percent) and Thailand (36 percent). Canada and Mexico, the two largest US trading
AIR SUPPORT: The Ministry of National Defense thanked the US for the delivery, adding that it was an indicator of the White House’s commitment to the Taiwan Relations Act Deputy Minister of National Defense Po Horng-huei (柏鴻輝) and Representative to the US Alexander Yui on Friday attended a delivery ceremony for the first of Taiwan’s long-awaited 66 F-16C/D Block 70 jets at a Lockheed Martin Corp factory in Greenville, South Carolina. “We are so proud to be the global home of the F-16 and to support Taiwan’s air defense capabilities,” US Representative William Timmons wrote on X, alongside a photograph of Taiwanese and US officials at the event. The F-16C/D Block 70 jets Taiwan ordered have the same capabilities as aircraft that had been upgraded to F-16Vs. The batch of Lockheed Martin
GRIDLOCK: The National Fire Agency’s Special Search and Rescue team is on standby to travel to the countries to help out with the rescue effort A powerful earthquake rocked Myanmar and neighboring Thailand yesterday, killing at least three people in Bangkok and burying dozens when a high-rise building under construction collapsed. Footage shared on social media from Myanmar’s second-largest city showed widespread destruction, raising fears that many were trapped under the rubble or killed. The magnitude 7.7 earthquake, with an epicenter near Mandalay in Myanmar, struck at midday and was followed by a strong magnitude 6.4 aftershock. The extent of death, injury and destruction — especially in Myanmar, which is embroiled in a civil war and where information is tightly controlled at the best of times —
China's military today said it began joint army, navy and rocket force exercises around Taiwan to "serve as a stern warning and powerful deterrent against Taiwanese independence," calling President William Lai (賴清德) a "parasite." The exercises come after Lai called Beijing a "foreign hostile force" last month. More than 10 Chinese military ships approached close to Taiwan's 24 nautical mile (44.4km) contiguous zone this morning and Taiwan sent its own warships to respond, two senior Taiwanese officials said. Taiwan has not yet detected any live fire by the Chinese military so far, one of the officials said. The drills took place after US Secretary