The US government’s US$255 million investment in the new American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) compound is a symbol of its commitment to Taiwan, US Representative Gregg Harper, who co-chairs the US Congressional Taiwan Caucus, said yesterday.
“The opening tomorrow of the new AIT headquarters shows how important our relationship is to the US,” the Republican lawmaker from Mississippi said.
Harper and his wife, Sidney, arrived on Sunday to attend today’s dedication ceremony of the new office complex in Taipei’s Neihu District (內湖). This is Harper’s third visit to Taiwan.
Photo: Chien Jung-fong, Taipei Times
Commenting on US-Taiwan relations, Harper said that as the caucus co-chair, he would assure people in Taiwan that “in Washington DC, our commitment is as strong or stronger than ever, and will continue that way in the future.”
While Republicans and Democrats in the US Congress do not always get along, “we recently passed the Taiwan Travel Act unanimously... That does not happen very often,” he said.
The act, which encourages visits between US and Taiwanese officials “at all levels,” was signed into law on March 16.
As free and democratic societies, the US and Taiwan share the same values, and this would allow them to maintain close relations, Harper said.
China’s pressuring of international companies into changing their references to Taiwan was an unfortunate development, and he has encouraged such companies to not give in to pressure, he said.
AIT Chairman James Moriarty, who arrived in Taiwan on Sunday, yesterday said the new AIT complex is “an important symbol” of US commitment to Taiwan.
It is Moriarty’s fourth visit since his appointment as AIT chairman in October 2016, the AIT said in a statement.
He also worked at the AIT in Taipei from 1995 to 1998.
Moriarty is scheduled to meet with several senior political and business figures, including some from Kaohsiung and Tainan, before leaving on Saturday, the AIT said.
The US delegation to today’s ceremony also includes US Assistant Secretary of State for Educational and Cultural Affairs Marie Royce, who is making her first trip to Taiwan in that capacity, although she has visited before with her husband, US House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Ed Royce.
President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) and Marie Royce are expected to speak at today’s event, the AIT said.
SECURITY: As China is ‘reshaping’ Hong Kong’s population, Taiwan must raise the eligibility threshold for applications from Hong Kongers, Chiu Chui-cheng said When Hong Kong and Macau citizens apply for residency in Taiwan, it would be under a new category that includes a “national security observation period,” Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) Minister Chiu Chui-cheng (邱垂正) said yesterday. President William Lai (賴清德) on March 13 announced 17 strategies to counter China’s aggression toward Taiwan, including incorporating national security considerations into the review process for residency applications from Hong Kong and Macau citizens. The situation in Hong Kong is constantly changing, Chiu said to media yesterday on the sidelines of the Taipei Technology Run hosted by the Taipei Neihu Technology Park Development Association. With
‘FORM OF PROTEST’: The German Institute Taipei said it was ‘shocked’ to see Nazi symbolism used in connection with political aims as it condemned the incident Sung Chien-liang (宋建樑), who led efforts to recall Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Lee Kun-cheng (李坤城), was released on bail of NT$80,000 yesterday amid an outcry over a Nazi armband he wore to questioning the night before. Sung arrived at the New Taipei City District Prosecutors’ Office for questioning in a recall petition forgery case on Tuesday night wearing a red armband bearing a swastika, carrying a copy of Adolf Hitler’s Mein Kampf and giving a Nazi salute. Sung left the building at 1:15am without the armband and apparently covering the book with a coat. This is a serious international scandal and Chinese
A US Marine Corps regiment equipped with Naval Strike Missiles (NSM) is set to participate in the upcoming Balikatan 25 exercise in the Luzon Strait, marking the system’s first-ever deployment in the Philippines. US and Philippine officials have separately confirmed that the Navy Marine Expeditionary Ship Interdiction System (NMESIS) — the mobile launch platform for the Naval Strike Missile — would take part in the joint exercise. The missiles are being deployed to “a strategic first island chain chokepoint” in the waters between Taiwan proper and the Philippines, US-based Naval News reported. “The Luzon Strait and Bashi Channel represent a critical access
COUNTERINTELLIGENCE TRAINING: The ministry said 87.5 percent of the apprehended Chinese agents were reported by service members they tried to lure into becoming spies Taiwanese organized crime, illegal money lenders, temples and civic groups are complicit in Beijing’s infiltration of the armed forces, the Ministry of National Defense (MND) said in a report yesterday. Retired service members who had been turned to Beijing’s cause mainly relied on those channels to infiltrate the Taiwanese military, according to the report to be submitted to lawmakers ahead of tomorrow’s hearing on Chinese espionage in the military. Chinese intelligence typically used blackmail, Internet-based communications, bribery or debts to loan sharks to leverage active service personnel to do its bidding, it said. China’s main goals are to collect intelligence, and develop a
RSS