Security arrangements at the new American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) compound will be the same as at its current location, a spokesperson for the US Department of State said on Thursday.
Since the de facto US embassy inaugurated its new building complex in Taipei’s Neihu District (內湖) on June 12, there have been news reports that US Marines could be deployed at the facility, in accordance with standard US practice at its embassies around the world.
In the wake of reports that the US Department of State asked the Pentagon to deploy a detachment of US Marines to Taiwan to help provide security at the AIT, CNN on Thursday cited US officials as saying that the request had been rejected due to resource constraint issues and not out of fear of irritating Beijing.
Photo: Chang Chia-ming, Taipei Times
The decision was made by US Secretary of Defense James Mattis last month, CNN reported, citing one defense official, who said that before the request was rejected, military planners had anticipated the US Marines would arrive in Taiwan as early as next month.
Asked about the report, the US Department of State said in a statement e-mailed to the media: “As is the practice at AIT’s current location, a small number of American personnel detailed to AIT along with a larger number of locally-hired employees will provide security for the new office building in cooperation with local authorities.”
The AIT has yet to move to the compound from its current address in Taipei’s Xinyi District (信義).
“We do not discuss specific security matters concerning the protection of our facility or personnel,” the statement said, reiterating the US’ commitment to its “one China” policy, based on the three US-China joint communiques and the Taiwan Relations Act.
Pentagon spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Christopher Logan declined to comment on the matter, saying: “We do not discuss the operational details or the internal deliberations related to specific security matters concerning the protection of our facilities or personnel.”
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