The government is neutral regarding the US presidential election result, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) said yesterday, adding that it is in close communication with the US about further arms sales.
President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) on Saturday convened a high-level national security meeting about major events that could affect the nation, including the US election.
Minister of Foreign Affairs Joseph Wu (吳釗燮) on Monday told lawmakers that the ministry had conducted several evaluations about the US elections, with one scenario suggesting there would be a period of uncertainty in the aftermath and that China might use its military to increase pressure on Taiwan.
Photo: Lu Yi-hsuan, Taipei Times
Asked about the potential impact of the US election, ministry spokeswoman Joanne Ou (歐江安) told a news briefing yesterday that the ministry remains in close contact with the US as well as Taiwanese expatriates there.
The nation has had long-term friendships with both the Democratic and Republican parties, and successive US administrations have abided by the commitments in the Taiwan Relations Act, she said.
Whichever party wins the presidential election, Taiwan would continue to deepen bilateral partnerships in various areas, she said.
In other news, in response to reporters’ questions, Minister of National Defense Yen De-fa (嚴德發) said that the US election would have an impact on regional situations and the US-China relationship, but no matter how the situation changes, China’s belligerence, its threat to regional security and its intention to use force against Taiwan would remain the same.
The military remains prepared to monitor the situation in the Taiwan Strait and the region, he said.
Yen urged Beijing to help stabilize regional order, instead of engendering more ill feelings from Taiwanese.
In other developments, Reuters yesterday reported that a US$600 million sale of four sophisticated aerial drones to Taiwan has crossed a key hurdle in the US Congress and is at the final stage of approval.
The sale would be the first since the US’ policy on the export of sophisticated drone technology was eased by US President Donald Trump’s administration.
The US Department of State could formally notify Congress of the sale later this week, a source told Reuters.
Asked about the possible sale, Ou said the foreign ministry would wait until it receives the US’ formal notification to brief the public.
Yen told reporters that once the Ministry of National Defense receives notification from the US, it would draft a budget to cover the purchase.
If approved, the sale would be the US’ first sale of MQ-9 drones to another nation, he added.
Additional reporting by Reuters
A subsidiary of a Hong Kong-based company that has lost control of two critical ports on the Panama Canal said it is seeking US$2 billion of compensation in damages from Panama over its “illegal” takeover of the ports. Panama Ports Co, a unit of Hong Kong’s CK Hutchison Holdings (長江和記實業), on Friday said in a statement that it is demanding the sum under international arbitration proceedings that it had already started. The Panamanian government last week seized control of the Balboa and Cristobal ports on each end of the Panama Canal, after the country’s Supreme Court declared earlier that a concession allowing
DETERRENCE: With 1,000 indigenous Hsiung Feng II and III missiles and 400 Harpoon missiles, the nation would boast the highest anti-ship missile density in the world With Taiwan wrapping up mass production of Hsiung Feng II and III missiles by December and an influx of Harpoon missiles from the US, Taiwan would have the highest density of anti-ship missiles in the world, a source said yesterday. Taiwan is to wrap up mass production of the indigenous anti-ship missiles by the end of year, as the Chungshan Institute of Science and Technology has been meeting production targets ahead of schedule, a defense official with knowledge of the matter said. Combined with the 400 Harpoon anti-ship missiles Taiwan expects to receive from the US by 2028, the nation would have
POSSIBILITIES EMERGE: With Taiwan’s victory and Japan’s narrow win over Australia, Taiwan now have a chance to advance if South Korea also beat the Aussies Taiwan has high hopes that the national baseball team would advance to the World Baseball Classic (WBC) quarter-finals after clinching a crucial 5-4 victory over South Korea in a nail-biting extra-inning game at the Tokyo Dome yesterday. Boosted by three home runs — two solo shots by Yu Chang (張育成) and Cheng Tsung-che (鄭宗哲) and a two-run homer by Stuart Fairchild — the triumph gave Taiwan a much-needed second victory in the five-team Pool C, where only the top two finishers would advance to the knockout stage in Miami, Florida. Entering extra innings with the game tied at four apiece, Taiwan scored
MISSION OF PEACE: The foreign minister urged Beijing to respect Taiwan’s existence as an independent nation, and work together to ensure peace and stability in the region Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) yesterday rejected Chinese Minister of Foreign Affairs Wang Yi’s (王毅) comments about Taiwan, criticizing China as a “troublemaker” in the international community and a disruptor of cross-strait peace. Speaking at a news conference on the sidelines of the Chinese National People’s Congress, Wang said that Taiwan has always been a territory of China and that it would be impossible for it to become its own country. The “return” of Taiwan to China was the natural outcome of the Chinese people’s resistance against Japan in World War II, and that any pursuit of independence was “doomed
RSS