When US President Barack Obama visits Beijing later this month, he should insist that China dismantle the 1,600 missiles it has targeted at Taiwan, the Formosan Association for Public Affairs (FAPA) said.
The group is appealing to Obama to “reaffirm America’s support for freedom, democracy and human rights in Taiwan.”
Obama is attending the APEC summit and is scheduled to hold private bilateral meetings with Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) at which Taiwan is thought certain to be discussed.
“We understand that in order to resolve many of the world’s major problems, the US needs to engage China, but the fact is that China has not acted as a responsible stakeholder,” FAPA president Mark Kao (高龍榮) wrote in a letter to the White House.
Kao said that China is causing increasing tension in the South China Sea and East China Sea, and through its mishandling of the democratic developments in Hong Kong.
“Against this background, we emphasize that ‘engagement’ should not be done at the expense of America’s core values: freedom, democracy and human rights, as exemplified by Taiwan,” Kao said.
FAPA, with 54 chapters across the US, has strong bipartisan support in the US Congress.
Kao says in the letter that the US president should remind the Chinese leadership that it is a “core interest” of the US that the future of Taiwan be resolved peacefully and with the express consent of the people of Taiwan.
Not only should Obama insist on the dismantling of the missiles, he should also urge Beijing to renounce the threat of use of force against Taiwan, Kao said.
To safeguard Taiwan and its future, the US needs to more fully embrace its freedom and democracy, Kao said.
“We believe this is the best way to maintain peace and stability in East Asia, and in the best interests of the US,” Kao said.
The letter said that for the past four decades, the US has clung to an outdated “one China” policy that has left Taiwan dangling in international isolation.
“Taiwan has transformed itself into a vibrant democracy and as we saw with the Sunflower movement this spring, the people of Taiwan don’t want to be pushed into an unwelcome embrace with China,” Kao said. “We therefore urge you to move towards a ‘One Taiwan, One China’ policy that warmly welcomes Taiwan as a full and equal member of the international community.”
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
RSS