The US should honor its commitment in providing Taiwan the necessary capability to defend itself, Representative Shelley Berkley, co-chairperson of the US House of Representatives’ Taiwan Caucus, said yesterday in Taipei.
“I believe the US must honor its commitment to Taiwan, a very reliable ally and democracy. The commitment regarding arms sales must be honored both by the former and the new administration,” she said.
Recent reports from Washington speculated that Beijing could try to strong arm US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton during her visit China, which begins on Friday, to negotiate for a freer hand with Tibet and Taiwan in exchange for a pledge to cut greenhouse gas emissions.
Berkley said Clinton would never be bullied into anything.
Berkley was named as co-chairperson of the 147-member Taiwan Caucus, an informal congressional organization comprised of lawmakers with an interest in boosting Taiwan-US relations, in January 2007.
The Nevada Democrat is in Taiwan at the invitation of Fu Jen Catholic University to participate in events marking the 30th anniversary of the Taiwan Relations Act (TRA), a US law that is the backbone of US-Taiwan relations.
Berkley plans to propose a House resolution to commemorate the TRA’s anniversary.
President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) met Berkley yesterday morning and urged the US government to follow the British government’s recent move to include Taiwan in its visa-waiver program.
Extending such privileges to Taiwan would boost tourism to the US, the persident said, noting that Japan saw an increase of Taiwanese tourists after it granted Taiwanese a 90-day visa free privilege two years ago.
Death row inmate Huang Lin-kai (黃麟凱), who was convicted for the double murder of his former girlfriend and her mother, is to be executed at the Taipei Detention Center tonight, the Ministry of Justice announced. Huang, who was a military conscript at the time, was convicted for the rape and murder of his ex-girlfriend, surnamed Wang (王), and the murder of her mother, after breaking into their home on Oct. 1, 2013. Prosecutors cited anger over the breakup and a dispute about money as the motives behind the double homicide. This is the first time that Minister of Justice Cheng Ming-chien (鄭銘謙) has
Ferry operators are planning to provide a total of 1,429 journeys between Taiwan proper and its offshore islands to meet increased travel demand during the upcoming Lunar New Year holiday, the Maritime and Port Bureau said yesterday. The available number of ferry journeys on eight routes from Saturday next week to Feb. 2 is expected to meet a maximum transport capacity of 289,414 passengers, the bureau said in a news release. Meanwhile, a total of 396 journeys on the "small three links," which are direct ferries connecting Taiwan's Kinmen and Lienchiang counties with China's Fujian Province, are also being planned to accommodate
BITTERLY COLD: The inauguration ceremony for US president-elect Donald Trump has been moved indoors due to cold weather, with the new venue lacking capacity A delegation of cross-party lawmakers from Taiwan, led by Legislative Speaker Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜), for the inauguration of US president-elect Donald Trump, would not be able to attend the ceremony, as it is being moved indoors due to forecasts of intense cold weather in Washington tomorrow. The inauguration ceremony for Trump and US vice president-elect JD Vance is to be held inside the Capitol Rotunda, which has a capacity of about 2,000 people. A person familiar with the issue yesterday said although the outdoor inauguration ceremony has been relocated, Taiwan’s legislative delegation has decided to head off to Washington as scheduled. The delegation
TRANSPORT CONVENIENCE: The new ticket gates would accept a variety of mobile payment methods, and buses would be installed with QR code readers for ease of use New ticketing gates for the Taipei metro system are expected to begin service in October, allowing users to swipe with cellphones and select credit cards partnered with Taipei Rapid Transit Corp (TRTC), the company said on Tuesday. TRTC said its gates in use are experiencing difficulty due to their age, as they were first installed in 2007. Maintenance is increasingly expensive and challenging as the manufacturing of components is halted or becoming harder to find, the company said. Currently, the gates only accept EasyCard, iPass and electronic icash tickets, or one-time-use tickets purchased at kiosks, the company said. Since 2023, the company said it
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