The core objective of the US partnership with Taiwan is to ensure that the island is “strong and confident, and free from coercion and threat,” a senior Pentagon official reportedly told the US-Taiwan Defense Industry Conference.
Only when it acts from a position of strength can Taipei engage in productive dialogue with Beijing to equitably and peacefully merge differences, US Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Strategy Daniel Chiu said.
The conference was closed to the press and the Pentagon refused to provide a copy of Chiu’s remarks, but several different sources provided the Taipei Times with an outline of the keynote speech delivered on Monday. Overall, those attending the conference were reassured by Chiu’s words, which followed widespread discussion that the US had been neglecting Taiwan.
Chui said that the US’ obligation to Taiwan did not begin and end with arms sales. Washington’s overall defense cooperation was broader and more consequential than any single dimension of it, he said, adding that Taiwan needed to focus its planning and procurement efforts on a nontraditional, innovative and asymmetric approach.
Defense reforms to date were important and necessary, but were not sufficient, Chiu said.
The preservation of peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait is fundamental to broader US strategic interests, chief among them the promotion of peace and prosperity in the Asia-Pacific region, Chiu said.
As part of a broad defense and security system agenda, the US constantly engages with Taiwan in evaluating, assessing and reviewing its defense needs. The US supported Taiwan’s military modernization efforts.
Security is a necessary precondition to peace and prosperity, and it is crucial that Taiwan’s defense force had the capability to defend the nation, he said.
It is important for Taiwan to have the military personnel, equipment and training that would make an aggressor pause before using threat or force for the purpose of coercion or aggression, he added.
Taiwan would welcome the return of Honduras as a diplomatic ally if its next president decides to make such a move, Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said yesterday. “Of course, we would welcome Honduras if they want to restore diplomatic ties with Taiwan after their elections,” Lin said at a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee, when asked to comment on statements made by two of the three Honduran presidential candidates during the presidential campaign in the Central American country. Taiwan is paying close attention to the region as a whole in the wake of a
President William Lai (賴清德) has appointed former vice president Chen Chien-jen (陳建仁) to attend the late Pope Francis’ funeral at the Vatican City on Saturday on his behalf, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said today. The Holy See announced Francis’ funeral would take place on Saturday at 10am in St Peter’s Square. The ministry expressed condolences over Francis’ passing and said that Chen would represent Taiwan at the funeral and offer condolences in person. Taiwan and the Vatican have a long-standing and close diplomatic relationship, the ministry said. Both sides agreed to have Chen represent Taiwan at the funeral, given his Catholic identity and
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫), spokeswoman Yang Chih-yu (楊智伃) and Legislator Hsieh Lung-chieh (謝龍介) would be summoned by police for questioning for leading an illegal assembly on Thursday evening last week, Minister of the Interior Liu Shyh-fang (劉世芳) said today. The three KMT officials led an assembly outside the Taipei City Prosecutors’ Office, a restricted area where public assembly is not allowed, protesting the questioning of several KMT staff and searches of KMT headquarters and offices in a recall petition forgery case. Chu, Yang and Hsieh are all suspected of contravening the Assembly and Parade Act (集會遊行法) by holding
Lawmakers from the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) yesterday established a friendship group with their counterparts in Ukraine to promote parliamentary exchanges between the two countries. A ceremony in Taipei for the Taiwan-Ukraine Parliamentary Friendship Association, initiated by DPP Legislator Chen Kuan-ting (陳冠廷), was attended by lawmakers and officials, including Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Francois Wu (吳志中) and European Economic and Trade Office in Taiwan Director Lutz Gullner. The increasingly dire situation in Ukraine is a global concern, and Taiwan cannot turn its back when the latter is in need of help, as the two countries share many common values and interests,
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