US Senator Cory Gardner pledged to push for the passage of a bill that would require the US government to work with other nations to ensure that Taiwan is recognized internationally in the face of China’s efforts to block Taipei’s entry into international organizations and reduce its diplomatic allies.
“The importance of the Taiwan Allies International Protection and Enhancement Initiative [TAIPEI Act] is the bipartisan support we have for the act. Passage of the legislation can be challenging sometimes in the US, regardless of the subject matter. We would push for the passage of TAIPEI Act as well as the principle behind it, which signifies US support for Taiwan, US recognition that friends and allies around the globe support Taiwan as well as an important launch of strategy for global Taiwan relations,” Gardner, the Republican chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Subcommittee on East Asia, the Pacific, and International Cybersecurity Policy, told a news conference at the Taipei Guest House.
He and three colleagues — Republican senators Marco Rubio and John Cornyn and Democrat Chris Coons — reintroduced the TAIPEI Act last month after it failed to win approval when it was first proposed last year.
Photo: CNA
Gardner said his visit, his fourth, was to stress the importance of the US-Taiwan relationship as well as Taiwan being a key part of a free and open US Indo-Pacific strategy.
The US Congress has passed several pieces of legislation to recognize US-Taiwan relations, he said.
One was the Asia Reassurance Initiative Act, which recognizes the importance of the Taiwan Relations Act (TRA) that has guided US policy on Taiwan over the past 40 years and would continue to be the guiding policy, he said.
Photo: Liu Hsin-de, Taipei Times
“I will continue to lead efforts in the US Congress to ensure Taiwan’s voice is represented in international organizations, we will continue to pursue high-level visits from dignitaries to Taiwan and to show Taiwan and its leadership around the globe,” he said.
Asked if he was concerned that US-Taiwan relations might change should a pro-China candidate win Taiwan’s presidential election in January next year, Gardner said that the US has concerns over behaviors that China has shown relating to fair trade practices, human rights and devaluation of voices of dissidents across China.
“All nations have to work together to ensure that China recognizes the dignity of fellow people as well as the ability for other nations to enter into trade relationships freely and fairly and to ensure that relationships with China are not affected by interference in the sovereignty of any nation,” the senator said.
President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) said Gardner’s support for Taiwan embodies the spirit of the TRA and the US’ pledge to the values of democracy as she met with him at the Presidential Office earlier.
She later took the senator on a walking tour of the Dadaocheng (大稻埕) area.
The TAIPEI Act, if passed, would ask the US secretary of state to submit to the appropriate congressional committees a report on specific steps taken by the US to reaffirm and strengthen Taiwan’s international alliances worldwide within 90 days of its enactment.
It would authorize the US Department of State to downgrade ties with any government taking actions unfavorable to Taiwan.
Additional reporting by Yang Chun-hui
INVESTIGATION: The case is the latest instance of a DPP figure being implicated in an espionage network accused of allegedly leaking information to Chinese intelligence Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) member Ho Jen-chieh (何仁傑) was detained and held incommunicado yesterday on suspicion of spying for China during his tenure as assistant to then-minister of foreign affairs Joseph Wu (吳釗燮). The Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office said Ho was implicated during its investigation into alleged spying activities by former Presidential Office consultant Wu Shang-yu (吳尚雨). Prosecutors said there is reason to believe Ho breached the National Security Act (國家安全法) by leaking classified Ministry of Foreign Affairs information to Chinese intelligence. Following interrogation, prosecutors petitioned the Taipei District Court to detain Ho, citing concerns over potential collusion or tampering of evidence. The
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
NEGOTIATIONS: The US response to the countermeasures and plans Taiwan presented has been positive, including boosting procurement and investment, the president said Taiwan is included in the first group for trade negotiations with the US, President William Lai (賴清德) said yesterday, as he seeks to shield Taiwanese exporters from a 32 percent tariff. In Washington, US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said in an interview on Fox News on Thursday that he would speak to his Taiwanese and Israeli counterparts yesterday about tariffs after holding a long discussion with the Vietnamese earlier. US President Donald Trump on Wednesday postponed punishing levies on multiple trade partners, including Taiwan, for three months after trillions of US dollars were wiped off global markets. He has maintained a 10 percent
RSS