Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Chairperson Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) on Tuesday held a series of “very successful, very positive” closed-door meetings with top Washington officials and politicians.
She held discussions with US Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman John McCain and the committee’s ranking Democratic member, Jack Reed. Republican Senator Dan Sullivan was also present.
For reasons of diplomatic protocol, DPP Secretary-General Joseph Wu (吳釗燮) later said that he could not reveal the names of US government officials that Tsai would meet or details of the discussions.
Photo: CNA
However, Washington sources said that she was expected to spend time with US National Security Adviser Susan Rice, US Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs Danny Russel and US Trade Representative Michael Froman.
Tsai is in the US capital this week to brief members of US President Barack Obama’s administration, Capitol Hill politicians and think tank members about her policies and plans should she win next year’s presidential election.
At a media briefing held late on Tuesday, Wu said that while many people have characterized the visit as a “test” or “interview” for Tsai, that is not correct.
He said she is in Washington to “harvest the fruits” of the work undertaken over the past two years by members of the DPP mission to the US.
The three-person mission has been operating on a tight budget with funds raised by Taiwanese-Americans, but has been doing “a superb” job, he said.
As a result, the treatment that Tsai and her DPP delegation had received was much improved, he added.
“Everything has been easier and more positive than in the past,” the secretary-general said.
Wu said there were no particular issues that needed to be clarified during the visit and that Tsai would focus on discussions about “how to make Taiwan stronger.”
He said that she wanted to strengthen the nation’s trade relationships in a way that would create momentum in the domestic economy.
During Tsai’s meeting with the three senators, concern was expressed about Chinese expansionism in the South China Sea and its security implications.
Wu said that under a DPP administration, the South China Sea policy would be to adhere to international law and address disputes through international legal channels.
“We will safeguard our sovereignty and what is rightfully ours,” he said.
While in the US, Wu said that Tsai and members of her delegation would not discuss domestic politics or the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT).
“We do not criticize our government while abroad,” he said.
Wu said there was concern in the US about Taiwan preserving its economic autonomy and freedom of action in the economic realm. A major target is to join the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade deal, he said.
Wu said that Taiwan needed to improve its economic institutions to make sure it would be able to participate in the TPP.
“The regulatory structures that exist in Taiwan right now are not conducive to attracting foreign investment,” he said. “Government bureaucracies are very slow and very inefficient, so it makes foreign capital less interested in investing in Taiwan.”
At a US Department of State briefing this week, US Senior Advisor for Strategic Communications Marie Harf said that Tsai’s visit was welcome and that “we look forward to a productive exchange.”
Asked if the administration was concerned about a possible negative reaction from Beijing, Harf said: “We have an interest in a comprehensive, durable and mutually beneficial partnership with Taiwan.”
Harf said that was fully consistent with the “one China” policy based on the Three Joint Communiques and the Taiwan Relations Act.
“You can support Taiwan’s security and freedom from coercion, you can promote Taiwan’s economic prosperity and help people in Taiwan enjoy the respect they deserve in the international community, while supporting at the same time our policy, that has not changed,” Harf said.
CIVIL DEFENSE: More reservists in alternative service would help establish a sound civil defense system for use in wartime and during natural disasters, Kuma Academy’s CEO said While a total of 120,000 reservists are expected to be called up for alternative reserve drills this year, compared with the 6,505 drilled last year, the number has been revised to 58,000 due to a postponed training date, Deputy Minster of the Interior Ma Shih-yuan (馬士元) said. In principle, the ministry still aims to call up 120,000 reservists for alternative reserve drills next year, he said, but the actual number would not be decided later until after this year’s evaluation. The increase follows a Legislative Yuan request that the Ministry of the Interior address low recruitment rates, which it made while reviewing
As eight basketball-playing international students appealed to the Taiwanese basketball industry after they were excluded from the draft of an upcoming new league merging the P.League+ and the T1 League, the new league’s preparatory committee spokesperson Chang Shu-jen (張樹人) yesterday said the committee would tomorrow discuss the supplementary measures and whether the international students can join the draft. The students on Tuesday called for support on their right to play in the upcoming new league, after a merger involving the two leagues impacted their eligibility for the draft. The international players from the University Basketball Association (UBA), led by first pick prospect
WARNING: China has stepped up harassment of foreign vessels after its new regulation took effect last month, an official said, citing an incident in the Diaoyutai Islands The Coast Guard Administration (CGA) yesterday linked China’s seizure of a Taiwanese fishing vessel illegally operating in its territorial waters to Beijing’s new regulation authorizing the China Coast Guard to seize boats in waters it claims. Chinese officials boarded and then seized a Taiwanese fishing vessel operating near China’s coast close to Kinmen County late on Tuesday and took it to a Chinese port, the CGA said. The Penghu-registered squid fishing vessel Da Jin Man No. 88 (大進滿88) was boarded and seized by China Coast Guard east-northeast of Liaoluo Bay (料羅灣), 17.5 nautical miles (32.4km) from Taiwan’s restricted waters off Kinmen,
Some foreign companies are considering moving Taiwanese employees out of China after Beijing said it could impose the death penalty on “die-hard” Taiwanese independence advocates, four people familiar with the matter said. The new guidelines have caused some Taiwanese expatriates and foreign multinationals operating in China to scramble to assess their legal risks and exposure, said the people, who include a lawyer and two executives with direct knowledge of the discussions. “Several companies have come to us to assess the risks to their personnel,” said the lawyer, James Zimmerman, a Beijing-based partner at the Perkins Coie law firm. He declined to identify