China was not consulted over the US’ decision to include Taiwan in the Visa Waiver Program (Visa Waiver Program ) on Tuesday, both the White House and the US Department of State have said.
“It did not from our perspective require any kind of special communication or interaction with Beijing,” a senior State Department official said.
A White House source said that while China knew in advance that the Visa Waiver Program announcement was to be made on Tuesday in Washington, the issue was never discussed with Beijing.
Photo: Fang Pin-chao, Taipei Times
White House spokesman Jay Carney stressed — in a clear reference to China — that including Taiwan in the program was not meant to send a “message” to any other country.
“It’s a logical development in the close security, economic and people-to-people relationship between the US and Taiwan,” he said.
“The Visa Waiver Program decision is consistent with our commitment to have robust unofficial relations with Taiwan,” the US State Department official said.
“So no, we did not engage with the Chinese government,” he said.
The Visa Waiver Program announcement — leaked on Monday — was officially announced on Tuesday in Washington at a US State Department conference on travel and tourism.
US Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano said: “Today’s announcement is a major step forward in our long-standing economic partnership with Taiwan. Taiwan’s participation in the Visa Waiver Program will not only stimulate tourism in the US, it will also enable us to work together to maintain the strictest security standards.”
In accordance with the Visa Waiver Program designation process, she said, the US Department of Homeland Security determined that Taiwan complies with key security and information-sharing requirements, such as enhanced law enforcement and security-related data sharing with the US; timely reporting of lost and stolen passports and the maintenance of high counterterrorism, law enforcement, border control, aviation and document security standards, she added.
Taiwan is joining 36 participants in the Visa Waiver Program, which permits visa-free travel to the US for eligible travelers visiting the US for 90 days or less for business or tourism.
“The number of tourists bound for the US is growing all the time,” US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said.
“In addition to trying to ease the way for Americans to travel, we have matched that commitment with trying to ease the way for foreigners to travel here,” she said.
US media said the decision was announced at the height of the US presidential election campaign and could be connected to US President Barack Obama’s political agenda to show that he can be tough on China.
“Taiwan’s inclusion in the Visa Waiver Program is long overdue,” House Foreign Affairs Committee Representative Howard Berman said.
“It is an appropriate designation and apt status for a country with whom we share such strong economic and cultural ties,” he said.
Berman concluded: “The free flow of Taiwanese visitors to our country will deepen the bond between the US and our democratic ally Taiwan.”
In Taipei, Minister of Foreign Affairs David Lin (林永樂) attributed the result to President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) “viable diplomacy,” saying the inclusion of Taiwan in the Visa Waiver Program will “bring great benefits” to US-Taiwan relations.
Lin said the ministry welcomed the US’ decision, adding that it signifies significant progress in elevating the nation’s image, enhancing Taiwan-US relations and contributing to the nation’s external relations handlings.
The progress will enable both countries to further enhance exchanges in trade and tourism, as well as culture and education areas, Lin said.
After having secured visa-waiver status, one of the most important tasks for Taiwan in advancing US-Taiwan relationships would be the resumption of negotiations under the Trade and Investment Framework Agreement platform, Lin said.
Bruce Linghu (令狐榮達), director-general of the ministry’s Department of North American Affairs, said the ministry will continue to seek visits to Taiwan by US Cabinet-level officials to consolidate cooperation in military and security areas.
‘DENIAL DEFENSE’: The US would increase its military presence with uncrewed ships, and submarines, while boosting defense in the Indo-Pacific, a Pete Hegseth memo said The US is reorienting its military strategy to focus primarily on deterring a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan, a memo signed by US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth showed. The memo also called on Taiwan to increase its defense spending. The document, known as the “Interim National Defense Strategic Guidance,” was distributed this month and detailed the national defense plans of US President Donald Trump’s administration, an article in the Washington Post said on Saturday. It outlines how the US can prepare for a potential war with China and defend itself from threats in the “near abroad,” including Greenland and the Panama
The High Prosecutors’ Office yesterday withdrew an appeal against the acquittal of a former bank manager 22 years after his death, marking Taiwan’s first instance of prosecutors rendering posthumous justice to a wrongfully convicted defendant. Chu Ching-en (諸慶恩) — formerly a manager at the Taipei branch of BNP Paribas — was in 1999 accused by Weng Mao-chung (翁茂鍾), then-president of Chia Her Industrial Co, of forging a request for a fixed deposit of US$10 million by I-Hwa Industrial Co, a subsidiary of Chia Her, which was used as collateral. Chu was ruled not guilty in the first trial, but was found guilty
A wild live dugong was found in Taiwan for the first time in 88 years, after it was accidentally caught by a fisher’s net on Tuesday in Yilan County’s Fenniaolin (粉鳥林). This is the first sighting of the species in Taiwan since 1937, having already been considered “extinct” in the country and considered as “vulnerable” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. A fisher surnamed Chen (陳) went to Fenniaolin to collect the fish in his netting, but instead caught a 3m long, 500kg dugong. The fisher released the animal back into the wild, not realizing it was an endangered species at
DEADLOCK: As the commission is unable to forum a quorum to review license renewal applications, the channel operators are not at fault and can air past their license date The National Communications Commission (NCC) yesterday said that the Public Television Service (PTS) and 36 other television and radio broadcasters could continue airing, despite the commission’s inability to meet a quorum to review their license renewal applications. The licenses of PTS and the other channels are set to expire between this month and June. The National Communications Commission Organization Act (國家通訊傳播委員會組織法) stipulates that the commission must meet the mandated quorum of four to hold a valid meeting. The seven-member commission currently has only three commissioners. “We have informed the channel operators of the progress we have made in reviewing their license renewal applications, and
RSS