Seeking to join various US-led military drills, including the Rim of the Pacific Exercise (RIMPAC), is an area in which Taiwan has wished to further its military cooperation with the US this year, Representative to the US King Pu-tsung (金溥聰) said in a written report to the legislature.
In addition to 35 military cooperation projects scheduled to take place this year, up from 18 projects last year, “we will continue to strive for participation in all major military drills led by the US, including RIMPAC,” King said.
He did not elaborate on what the cooperation projects are.
A meeting has been scheduled for tomorrow, where King is to brief lawmakers in the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee on the prospects for US-Taiwan relations this year and to take their questions.
In the report, King identified five broad areas of further cooperation between Taiwan and the US — strengthening bilateral relations; highlighting the importance of bilateral economic and trade ties; consolidating the military and security partnership; joining hands in dealing with global affairs and crises; and collaborating in territorial disputes in the East China Sea and the South China Sea.
On the security front, King said that US President Barack Obama’s administration has attached high importance to Taiwan’s national security, of which the record-high arms sale of US$12 billion during his presidency is testimony, while Taiwan received more support from the US Congress last year than ever before.
Last year marked the first time that US lawmakers voiced support for Taiwan’s inclusion in the RIMPAC naval exercise, when eight US congressmen signed a bipartisan letter in October requesting that US Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel invite Taiwan to take part in this year’s drill, King said.
In November last year, US Senator Dan Coats submitted an amendment stating that Taiwan should be invited to participate at this year’s RIMPAC to help its proficiency in humanitarian assistance and disaster relief, he added.
Hosted by the US Navy, RIMPAC, the world’s largest international maritime exercise, is held biennially during June and July in Honolulu, Hawaii, and is designed to foster and sustain the cooperative relationships critical to ensuring safety of sea lanes and security on the world’s oceans, according to the US Navy Web site.
China’s People’s Liberation Army in November last year agreed to participate in RIMPAC for the first time this year, in response to an invitation extended by former US secretary of defense Leon Panetta during a visit to Beijing in 2012.
King also revealed for the first time in the report that Taiwan had stayed in touch with the US since the Liaoning, China’s first aircraft carrier, started passing through the Taiwan Strait on Nov. 28, amid tensions over China’s unilateral designation of an air defense identification zone in the East China Sea.
Taiwan and the US monitored the Liaoning’s course closely, King said.
King’s statement somewhat contradicted a report on Nov. 29 by the Global Times, a mouthpiece of the Chinese Communist Party, saying that Taiwan turned down requests by the US and Japan to conduct surveillance of the carrier in relay.
According to a report by the Taipei Times on Nov. 7, US Admiral Samuel Locklear III, the Commander of US Pacific Command, did not respond affirmatively when asked at a briefing at the Washington Foreign Press Center about the possibility of the US inviting Taipei to join this year’s RIMPAC.
King added in the report that the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office in the US has scheduled conferences and other events in Washington this year to mark the 35th anniversary of the enactment of the Taiwan Relations Act to highlight the importance of the law.
Although tensions across the Taiwan Strait have gradually eased, threats of force by China against Taiwan must never be ignored, King said.
If the US can continue to provide Taiwan with weapons, in accordance with the Taiwan Relations Act, it can not only help Taiwan beef up its self-defense capability and boost confidence in its negotiations with China, but also lay down foundations for stability in cross-strait relations and peace in East Asia, King said.
Taiwan welcomes more US arms sales, including “advanced fighter jets,” and looks forward to consolidating its military and security partnership with the US in the areas of coordination of military strategies, anti-terrorism and cybersecurity, he said.
The CIA has a message for Chinese government officials worried about their place in Chinese President Xi Jinping’s (習近平) government: Come work with us. The agency released two Mandarin-language videos on social media on Thursday inviting disgruntled officials to contact the CIA. The recruitment videos posted on YouTube and X racked up more than 5 million views combined in their first day. The outreach comes as CIA Director John Ratcliffe has vowed to boost the agency’s use of intelligence from human sources and its focus on China, which has recently targeted US officials with its own espionage operations. The videos are “aimed at
STEADFAST FRIEND: The bills encourage increased Taiwan-US engagement and address China’s distortion of UN Resolution 2758 to isolate Taiwan internationally The Presidential Office yesterday thanked the US House of Representatives for unanimously passing two Taiwan-related bills highlighting its solid support for Taiwan’s democracy and global participation, and for deepening bilateral relations. One of the bills, the Taiwan Assurance Implementation Act, requires the US Department of State to periodically review its guidelines for engagement with Taiwan, and report to the US Congress on the guidelines and plans to lift self-imposed limitations on US-Taiwan engagement. The other bill is the Taiwan International Solidarity Act, which clarifies that UN Resolution 2758 does not address the issue of the representation of Taiwan or its people in
US Indo-Pacific Commander Admiral Samuel Paparo on Friday expressed concern over the rate at which China is diversifying its military exercises, the Financial Times (FT) reported on Saturday. “The rates of change on the depth and breadth of their exercises is the one non-linear effect that I’ve seen in the last year that wakes me up at night or keeps me up at night,” Paparo was quoted by FT as saying while attending the annual Sedona Forum at the McCain Institute in Arizona. Paparo also expressed concern over the speed with which China was expanding its military. While the US
SHIFT: Taiwan’s better-than-expected first-quarter GDP and signs of weakness in the US have driven global capital back to emerging markets, the central bank head said The central bank yesterday blamed market speculation for the steep rise in the local currency, and urged exporters and financial institutions to stay calm and stop panic sell-offs to avoid hurting their own profitability. The nation’s top monetary policymaker said that it would step in, if necessary, to maintain order and stability in the foreign exchange market. The remarks came as the NT dollar yesterday closed up NT$0.919 to NT$30.145 against the US dollar in Taipei trading, after rising as high as NT$29.59 in intraday trading. The local currency has surged 5.85 percent against the greenback over the past two sessions, central
RSS