The Presidential Office yesterday thanked the US for briefing Taiwan in advance on its latest National Security Strategy report and for reiterating its commitment to the Taiwan Relations Act in the document.
US President Donald Trump’s administration unveiled the report on Monday morning in Washington, mentioning Taiwan in its section on the Indo-Pacific region.
Presidential Office spokesman Sidney Lin (林鶴明) said that the US briefed Taiwan on the report in Taipei on Monday afternoon.
Photo: Peng Wan-hsin, Taipei Times
The guiding principles outlined in the US report as part of a strategy to bring about a free and open Indo-Pacific region, including promotion of free and fair trade and joining forces with its allies to deter threats, are “in line with our policy to pursue peace and stability in the region,” Lin said.
“We thanked the US for its prior briefing and its firm commitment to the Taiwan Relations Act,” he said.
As a member of the international community, Taiwan is committed to deepening cooperation and relationships with regional partners to contribute to the peace, stability and welfare of the region, Lin added.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs expressed optimism about future Taiwan-US relations, saying the reference to the Taiwan Relations Act shows that Trump realizes the strategic importance of Taiwan in the Asia-Pacific region.
The government has paid close attention to and is highly interested in Trump’s “Indo-Pacific” strategy, which was proposed by the US president during his first trip to Asia last month, Department of North American Affairs Director-General Remus Chen (陳立國) said.
“We will continue to seek to understand what policies the US plans to adopt to carry out the initiative. We also hope to strengthen bilateral cooperation with Washington on various aspects under this new strategic framework,” Chen said.
Asked what role Taiwan could play in Trump’s Indo-Pacific strategy, Chen said that although the government is still conducting evaluations, it would not sit on the sidelines.
“Taiwan is situated in a coveted strategic location in East Asia and has consistently contributed to the maintenance of regional peace. As one of the stakeholders, it is impossible for us to sit on the sidelines when a major regional strategy is being formed,” he said.
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
RSS