The US House of Representatives has unanimously passed the Taiwan Travel Act, legislation that encourages visits between Taiwan and the US at all levels, including high-ranking officials.
The bill, a follow-up to the Taiwan Relations Act, was introduced by House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Ed Royce and others in January last year and was passed by the House Committee on Foreign Affairs in October before being submitted for a vote by the full House.
The legislation still has to be passed by the US Senate to become law.
“The US and Taiwan share a commitment to democracy, rule of law and human rights... We should be supporting countries that have achieved democracy to serve as inspiration for these values across the Asia-Pacific [region],” Royce said following the passage of the bill.
The bill says that ties between Taiwan and the US have suffered from insufficient high-level communication since the enactment of the Taiwan Relations Act in 1979 because of self-imposed restrictions by the US on visits by top officials to Taiwan.
“The United States government should encourage visits between the United States and Taiwan at all levels,” the bill says.
If the bill becomes law, high-level Taiwanese officials would be able to travel to the US and meet with US officials, including officials from the US Department of State, as well as conduct business in the US.
High-ranking Taiwanese officials have been barred from direct diplomatic engagement in Washington and senior US officials have not visited Taiwan since the US severed diplomatic ties with Taiwan in 1979.
US-Taiwan Business Council president Rupert Hammond-Chambers said that the council supports the bill.
“We believe it will improve communication between Taiwan and the United States, specifically expanding the understanding of Taiwan’s situation to decisionmakers in Washington,” he said.
The US House yesterday also passed a bill that directs the US secretary of state to help Taiwan regain observer status at the WHO and increases reporting requirements.
Royce said the passage of the two bills sent a strong message of support for Taiwan.
The WHO bill says that the 108th US Congress in 2004 passed legislation directing the US secretary of state to establish a strategy for, and to report annually to the US Congress on, efforts to obtain observer status for Taiwan at the World Health Assembly, the decisionmaking body of the WHO.
The Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office in Washington expressed gratitude to the US Congress for the goodwill and high level of support it has shown to Taiwan during the legislative process.
EXPRESSING GRATITUDE: Without its Taiwanese partners which are ‘working around the clock,’ Nvidia could not meet AI demand, CEO Jensen Huang said Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) and US-based artificial intelligence (AI) chip designer Nvidia Corp have partnered with each other on silicon photonics development, Nvidia founder and CEO Jensen Huang (黃仁勳) said. Speaking with reporters after he met with TSMC chairman C.C. Wei (魏哲家) in Taipei on Friday, Huang said his company was working with the world’s largest contract chipmaker on silicon photonics, but admitted it was unlikely for the cooperation to yield results any time soon, and both sides would need several years to achieve concrete outcomes. To have a stake in the silicon photonics supply chain, TSMC and
SILICON VALLEY HUB: The office would showcase Taiwan’s strengths in semiconductors and artificial intelligence, and help Taiwanese start-ups connect with global opportunities Taiwan has established an office in Palo Alto, one of the principal cities of Silicon Valley in California, aimed at helping Taiwanese technology start-ups gain global visibility, the National Development Council said yesterday. The “Startup Island Taiwan Silicon Valley hub” at No. 299 California Avenue is focused on “supporting start-ups and innovators by providing professional consulting, co-working spaces, and community platforms,” the council said in a post on its Web site. The office is the second overseas start-up hub established by the council, after a similar site was set up in Tokyo in September last year. Representatives from Taiwanese start-ups, local businesses and
‘DETERRENT’: US national security adviser-designate Mike Waltz said that he wants to speed up deliveries of weapons purchased by Taiwan to deter threats from China US president-elect Donald Trump’s nominee for US secretary of defense, Pete Hegseth, affirmed his commitment to peace in the Taiwan Strait during his confirmation hearing in Washington on Tuesday. Hegseth called China “the most comprehensive and serious challenge to US national security” and said that he would aim to limit Beijing’s expansion in the Indo-Pacific region, Voice of America reported. He would also adhere to long-standing policies to prevent miscalculations, Hegseth added. The US Senate Armed Services Committee hearing was the first for a nominee of Trump’s incoming Cabinet, and questions mostly focused on whether he was fit for the
SHARED VALUES: The US, Taiwan and other allies hope to maintain the cross-strait ‘status quo’ to foster regional prosperity and growth, the former US vice president said Former US vice president Mike Pence yesterday vowed to continue to support US-Taiwan relations, and to defend the security and interests of both countries and the free world. At a meeting with President William Lai (賴清德) at the Presidential Office in Taipei, Pence said that the US and Taiwan enjoy strong and continued friendship based on the shared values of freedom, the rule of law and respect for human rights. Such foundations exceed limitations imposed by geography and culture, said Pence, who is visiting Taiwan for the first time. The US and Taiwan have shared interests, and Americans are increasingly concerned about China’s
RSS