A US Department of State official arrived in Taipei last night for a three-day visit, the first to arrive following the enactment of the US’ Taiwan Travel Act on Friday last week.
Alex Wong (黃之瀚), deputy assistant secretary at the Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs, is scheduled to deliver remarks at the American Chamber of Commerce (AmCham) in Taipei’s annual Hsieh Nien Fan (謝年飯) banquet tonight, the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) said in a news release yesterday.
President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) will also attend the AmCham banquet and deliver a speech.
Photo: screen grab from the US Department of State Web site
Wong is also scheduled to meet with Taiwanese official to discuss various issues connected to Taiwan-US relations, the AIT statement said.
AIT spokeswoman Sonia Urbom dismissed the idea of a link between Wong’s visit and the enactment of the Taiwan Travel Act — which encourages visits by high-level US and Taiwanese officials — saying the trip had been planned for some time.
Wong, a political appointee, took office on Dec. 11 last year. He previously served as foreign policy adviser and general counsel to US Senator Tom Cotton, a Republican.
He was foreign and legal policy director for former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney’s 2012 presidential campaign, and worked as an adviser to the State Department’s Iraq Rule of Law office from 2007 to 2009.
Sources said Wong is in charge of US President Donald Trump’s Indo-Pacific initiatives.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a statement welcoming Wong, and said his visit would allow US government agencies to gain a better understanding of Taiwan’s political and economic development, as well as its defense and cross-strait policies.
“Wong’s visit not only underscores the friendship between Taipei and Washington, but is also conducive to deepening the two sides’ partnership,” the ministry said.
The ministry said they would also exchange opinions with Wong on the future development of Taiwan-US ties and the two nations’ cooperation in the Indo-Pacific region.
AIR DEFENSE: The Norwegian missile system has proved highly effective in Ukraine in its war against Russia, and the US has recommended it for Taiwan, an expert said The Norwegian Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile Systems (NASAMS) Taiwan ordered from the US would be installed in strategically important positions in Taipei and New Taipei City to guard the region, the Ministry of National Defense said in statement yesterday. The air defense system would be deployed in Taipei’s Songshan District (松山) and New Taipei City’s Tamsui District (淡水), the ministry said, adding that the systems could be delivered as soon as the end of this year. The US Defense Security Cooperation Agency has previously said that three NASAMS would be sold to Taiwan. The weapons are part of the 17th US arms sale to
SERIOUS ALLEGATIONS: The suspects formed spy networks and paramilitary groups to kill government officials during a possible Chinese invasion, prosecutors said Prosecutors have indicted seven retired military officers, members of the Rehabilitation Alliance Party, for allegedly obtaining funds from China, and forming paramilitary groups and assassination squads in Taiwan to collaborate with Chinese troops in a possible war. The suspects contravened the National Security Act (國家安全法) by taking photos and drawing maps of key radar stations, missile installations and the American Institute in Taiwan’s headquarters in Taipei, prosecutors said. They allegedly prepared to collaborate with China during a possible invasion of Taiwan, prosecutors said. Retired military officer Chu Hung-i (屈宏義), 62, a Republic of China Army Academy graduate, went to China
INSURRECTION: The NSB said it found evidence the CCP was seeking snipers in Taiwan to target members of the military and foreign organizations in the event of an invasion The number of Chinese spies prosecuted in Taiwan has grown threefold over a four-year period, the National Security Bureau (NSB) said in a report released yesterday. In 2021 and 2022, 16 and 10 spies were prosecuted respectively, but that number grew to 64 last year, it said, adding that the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) was working with gangs in Taiwan to develop a network of armed spies. Spies in Taiwan have on behalf of the CCP used a variety of channels and methods to infiltrate all sectors of the country, and recruited Taiwanese to cooperate in developing organizations and obtaining sensitive information
BREAKTHROUGH: The US is making chips on par in yield and quality with Taiwan, despite people saying that it could not happen, the official said Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) has begun producing advanced 4-nanometer (nm) chips for US customers in Arizona, US Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo said, a milestone in the semiconductor efforts of the administration of US President Joe Biden. In November last year, the commerce department finalized a US$6.6 billion grant to TSMC’s US unit for semiconductor production in Phoenix, Arizona. “For the first time ever in our country’s history, we are making leading edge 4-nanometer chips on American soil, American workers — on par in yield and quality with Taiwan,” Raimondo said, adding that production had begun in recent
RSS