If Taiwan needs a sign that the relationship with the US is “at a high water mark,” it only needs to look at the schedule of newly appointed American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) Director Sandra Oudkirk for the past four months.
After assuming the post at the end of July, Oudkirk met with President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) on Aug. 10, when Oudkirk said that “the Taiwan-US relationship is at a high water mark.”
Since then, Oudkirk has kept a packed agenda. From appearing at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport when Moderna COVID-19 vaccines donated by the US arrived, to traveling to Chiayi County to witness the upgrading of F-16 combat squadrons, to accompanying US congressional delegations to meetings with Tsai and visiting Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC) facilities, there is no question that Oudkirk has been demonstrating the high water mark occasion with tangible actions.
The Global Cooperation and Training Framework (GCTF) is another example.
To resolve the predicaments Taiwan faces in joining international organizations, the US founded the GCTF in 2015, a tailor-made platform to utilize Taiwan’s strengths and expertise to address global issues of mutual concern with the international community, focusing on public health, crime, digital economics, cybersecurity and other fields.
Since assuming her position, Oudkirk has hosted six consecutive workshops with one to two events per month. The topics have included green energy and sustainability, labor rights protection, crisis management and disaster response, women in government, protecting the rights of people with disabilities and countering fake news.
All of these issues are within Taiwan’s areas of expertise, and by standing shoulder to shoulder with the US, the nation can bring to life its slogan of “Taiwan can help” and contribute in a variety of ways to the international community.
Japan became the GCTF’s third partner in 2019, and has since joined Taiwan and the US in cohosting all of its workshops.
Australia also joined the framework in October.
The GCTF alliance can assist Taiwan in becoming central to those countries’ strategies in the Indo-Pacific region.
Additional like-minded countries such as Canada, the UK, Sweden, the Netherlands, Slovakia, Israel and some countries in the EU have joined the GCTF to cohost workshops on a wide range of topics.
Taiwan might be seeing a spillover effect from the GCTF, with a growing number of participating countries and increasing diversity in the topics it covers.
Since the administration of US President Joe Biden took office in January, US Navy vessels have sailed through the Taiwan Strait 11 times, conducting regular freedom of navigation patrols every month. Tsai has also confirmed the presence of US troops in the nation to help train the Taiwanese military.
Meanwhile, a TSMC 5-nanometer wafer plant under construction in Phoenix, Arizona, is to be the US’ largest direct foreign investment in the country’s history.
With defense and supply chain cooperation in place, there is no doubt that the relationship between Taiwan and the US is at a high water mark.
As visits from US government officials and congressional delegations are expected to increase, Oudkirk’s schedule is likely to become busier than ever.
Chen Yung-chang is a company manager.
Translated by Rita Wang
With each passing day, the threat of a People’s Republic of China (PRC) assault on Taiwan grows. Whatever one’s view about the history, there is essentially no question that a PRC conquest of Taiwan would mark the end of the autonomy and freedom enjoyed by the island’s 23 million people. Simply put, the PRC threat to Taiwan is genuinely existential for a free, democratic and autonomous Taiwan. Yet one might not know it from looking at Taiwan. For an island facing a threat so acute, lethal and imminent, Taiwan is showing an alarming lack of urgency in dramatically strengthening its defenses.
As India’s six-week-long general election grinds past the halfway mark, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s messaging has shifted from confident to shrill. After the first couple of phases of polling showed a 3 percentage point drop in turnout, Modi and his party leaders have largely stopped promoting their accomplishments of the past 10 years — or, for that matter, the “Modi guarantees” offered in the Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) manifesto for the next five. Instead, making the majority Hindu population fear and loathe Muslims seems to be the BJP’s preferred talking point. Modi went on the offensive in an April 21
The people of Taiwan recently received confirmation of the strength of American support for their security. Of four foreign aid bills that Congress passed and President Biden signed in April, the bill legislating additional support for Taiwan garnered the most votes. Three hundred eighty-five members of the House of Representatives voted to provide foreign military financing to Taiwan versus only 34 against. More members of Congress voted to support Taiwan than Ukraine, Israel, or banning TikTok. There was scant debate over whether the United States should provide greater support for Taiwan. It was understood and broadly accepted that doing so
I still remember the first time I heard about the possibility of an invasion by China. I was six years old. I thought war was coming and hid in my bed, scared. After 18 years, the invasion news tastes like a sandwich I eat every morning. As a Gen Z Taiwanese student who has witnessed China’s harassment for more than 20 years, I want to share my opinion on China. Every generation goes through different events. I have seen not only the norms of China’s constant presence, but also the Sunflower movement, wars and people fighting over peace or equality,