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.
Super Typhoon Kong-rey is the largest cyclone to impact Taiwan in 27 years, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said today. Kong-rey’s radius of maximum wind (RMW) — the distance between the center of a cyclone and its band of strongest winds — has expanded to 320km, CWA forecaster Chang Chun-yao (張竣堯) said. The last time a typhoon of comparable strength with an RMW larger than 300km made landfall in Taiwan was Typhoon Herb in 1996, he said. Herb made landfall between Keelung and Suao (蘇澳) in Yilan County with an RMW of 350km, Chang said. The weather station in Alishan (阿里山) recorded 1.09m of
NO WORK, CLASS: President William Lai urged people in the eastern, southern and northern parts of the country to be on alert, with Typhoon Kong-rey approaching Typhoon Kong-rey is expected to make landfall on Taiwan’s east coast today, with work and classes canceled nationwide. Packing gusts of nearly 300kph, the storm yesterday intensified into a typhoon and was expected to gain even more strength before hitting Taitung County, the US Navy’s Joint Typhoon Warning Center said. The storm is forecast to cross Taiwan’s south, enter the Taiwan Strait and head toward China, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The CWA labeled the storm a “strong typhoon,” the most powerful on its scale. Up to 1.2m of rainfall was expected in mountainous areas of eastern Taiwan and destructive winds are likely
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) yesterday at 5:30pm issued a sea warning for Typhoon Kong-rey as the storm drew closer to the east coast. As of 8pm yesterday, the storm was 670km southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻) and traveling northwest at 12kph to 16kph. It was packing maximum sustained winds of 162kph and gusts of up to 198kph, the CWA said. A land warning might be issued this morning for the storm, which is expected to have the strongest impact on Taiwan from tonight to early Friday morning, the agency said. Orchid Island (Lanyu, 蘭嶼) and Green Island (綠島) canceled classes and work
KONG-REY: A woman was killed in a vehicle hit by a tree, while 205 people were injured as the storm moved across the nation and entered the Taiwan Strait Typhoon Kong-rey slammed into Taiwan yesterday as one of the biggest storms to hit the nation in decades, whipping up 10m waves, triggering floods and claiming at least one life. Kong-rey made landfall in Taitung County’s Chenggong Township (成功) at 1:40pm, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The typhoon — the first in Taiwan’s history to make landfall after mid-October — was moving north-northwest at 21kph when it hit land, CWA data showed. The fast-moving storm was packing maximum sustained winds of 184kph, with gusts of up to 227kph, CWA data showed. It was the same strength as Typhoon Gaemi, which was the most
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