Following in the footsteps of the US House of Representatives, a group of US senators on Thursday introduced a concurrent resolution reaffirming US commitment to Taiwan to mark the 40th anniversary of the Taiwan Relations Act (TRA).
The resolution was submitted by US Senator Cory Gardner, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Subcommittee on East Asia, the Pacific and International Cybersecurity Policy, along with Jim Risch, James Inhofe, Robert Menendez and Ed Markey.
The resolution reaffirms that the TRA, signed into law on April 10, 1979, and the “six assurances,” issued by then-US president Ronald Reagan in 1982, “are, and will remain, cornerstones of US relations with Taiwan.”
Photo: Bloomberg
The US should conduct regular transfers of defensive articles to Taiwan consistent with Taiwan’s national security requirements in accordance with existing law, including the Asia Reassurance Initiative Act of 2018, the resolution states.
It also encourages US officials at all levels to travel to meet with their counterparts in Taiwan, and for high-level Taiwanese officials to enter the US and meet with US officials, in accordance with the Taiwan Travel Act.
It calls upon the US secretary of state to engage internationally in support of Taiwan’s meaningful participation in international organizations, and urges the US president to explore opportunities to expand and deepen bilateral economic and trade relations with Taiwan.
Gardner said in a statement that he has for many years been committed to strengthening the relationship between the US and Taiwan, and boosting Taiwan’s role on the international stage.
He reiterated that the US would continue to speak out for Taiwan and its people, as guided by US law, including the TRA, the Taiwan Travel Act and the Asia Reassurance Initiative Act.
Markey, who was already a senator when the TRA was being drafted, said that he would continue to cooperate with his colleagues across party lines to fulfill the responsibility of bolstering relations between the people of the US and Taiwan.
Risch said that despite continued pressure from China, he looks forward to a long-standing partnership between the US and Taiwan, because the two sides have strongly shared values, and economic and security interests.
Taiwan’s representative office in the US thanked the US Congress for its support of Taiwan’s sovereignty, freedom and democracy, as well as security in the Taiwan Strait.
Seventy percent of middle and elementary schools now conduct English classes entirely in English, the Ministry of Education said, as it encourages schools nationwide to adopt this practice Minister of Education (MOE) Cheng Ying-yao (鄭英耀) is scheduled to present a report on the government’s bilingual education policy to the Legislative Yuan’s Education and Culture Committee today. The report would outline strategies aimed at expanding access to education, reducing regional disparities and improving talent cultivation. Implementation of bilingual education policies has varied across local governments, occasionally drawing public criticism. For example, some schools have required teachers of non-English subjects to pass English proficiency
‘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
TRADE: The premier pledged safeguards on ‘Made in Taiwan’ labeling, anti-dumping measures and stricter export controls to strengthen its position in trade talks Products labeled “made in Taiwan” must be genuinely made in Taiwan, Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) said yesterday, vowing to enforce strict safeguards against “origin laundering” and initiate anti-dumping investigations to prevent China dumping its products in Taiwan. Cho made the remarks in a discussion session with representatives from industries in Kaohsiung. In response to the US government’s recent announcement of “reciprocal” tariffs on its trading partners, President William Lai (賴清德) and Cho last week began a series of consultations with industry leaders nationwide to gather feedback and address concerns. Taiwanese and US officials held a videoconference on Friday evening to discuss the
PERSONAL DATA: The implicated KMT members allegedly compiled their petitions by copying names from party lists without the consent of the people concerned Judicial authorities searched six locations yesterday and questioned six people, including one elderly Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) member and five KMT Youth League associates, about alleged signature forgery and fraud relating to their recall efforts against two Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) legislators. After launching a probe into alleged signature forgery and related fraud in the KMT’s recall effort, prosecutors received a number of complaints, including about one petition that had 1,748 signatures of voters whose family members said they had already passed away, and also voters who said they did not approve the use of their name, Taipei Deputy Chief Prosecutor
RSS