Maintaining a strong relationship with Taiwan has bipartisan support in the US, former US assistant secretary of state Kurt Campbell told a forum yesterday via videoconferencing, while encouraging Taipei and Beijing to resume dialogue.
The Taiwan-US-Japan Trilateral Indo-Pacific Security Dialogue took place in Taipei, just hours after the US announced another potential arms sale package to Taiwan.
In her opening remarks, President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) said this year has been difficult due to the COVID-19 pandemic, while other forms of traditional and non-
Photo: Wang Yi-sung, Taipei Times
traditional threats also posed grave challenges.
“The South China Sea has become increasingly militarized. Authoritarian forces consistently attempt to violate the existing rules-based order,” she said.
“Taiwan has been at the receiving end of such military threats on a daily basis. We therefore understand the urgency of dealing with these threats,” she added.
Other non-traditional threats, such as natural disasters, international crime, threats to energy safety, and maritime and cyberspace security, should also be effectively addressed, Tsai said, calling for cooperation to tackle the challenges.
She touted the achievements made through the Global Cooperation and Training Framework, a Taiwan-US-Japan cooperation platform marking its fifth anniversary, adding that Sweden, Australia and the Netherlands have joined the group as issue-specific partners.
Delivering his speech virtually after Tsai, Campbell addressed future US policy on Asia. Campbell, now chairman of the Washington-based advisory firm Asia Group, was a US assistant secretary of state for East Asian and Pacific Affairs during former US president Barack Obama’s administration.
While Washington had in the past few decades paid more attention to the Middle East, the Obama administration started repositioning the country’s Asia policy, and a new administration under US president-elect Joe Biden would continue the legacy and start new possibilities, he said.
The new administration should make the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue, which involves the US, Japan, India and Australia, more robust, and seek to rejoin international organizations and play a leading role, he added.
US Democrats and Republicans alike understand the challenges presented by Beijing’s military and economic aggression in the Indo-Pacific region, as well as the strategic interest of maintaining a strong relationship with Taiwan, he said.
Washington and Beijing could still work together in tackling certain issues, such as pandemic prevention and climate change, he said.
Campbell said Taipei and Beijing could resume dialogue to ease cross-strait tensions.
Washington’s goal is to realize its commitments to Taiwan’s democracy and cross-strait security, which US President Donald Trump’s administration has done excellently and should be continued by Biden, he said.
Also joining the videoconference was Randall Schriver, Project 2049 Institute chairman and former US assistant secretary of defense for Indo-Pacific security affairs, who talked of Taiwan’s geostrategic importance.
The annexation of Taiwan by China would pose a serious threat to regional security, especially to Japan’s defense around the Ryukyu Islands and the Miyako Strait, he said.
As Taiwan’s continued existence is in the common interest of the US, Taiwan and Japan, the three countries should work together in more operational ways, including defending supply chains security, he said.
Hopefully, Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga and Biden’s incoming administration would take into account opinions shared at the forum, he said.
The Taiwan-US-Japan Trilateral Indo-Pacific Security Dialogue was cohosted by the Prospect Foundation, the Project 2049 Institute and the Japan Institute of International Affairs.
NATIONAL SECURITY: The Chinese influencer shared multiple videos on social media in which she claimed Taiwan is a part of China and supported its annexation Freedom of speech does not allow comments by Chinese residents in Taiwan that compromise national security or social stability, the nation’s top officials said yesterday, after the National Immigration Agency (NIA) revoked the residency permit of a Chinese influencer who published videos advocating China annexing Taiwan by force. Taiwan welcomes all foreigners to settle here and make families so long as they “love the land and people of Taiwan,” Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) told lawmakers during a plenary session at the Legislative Yuan in Taipei. The public power of the government must be asserted when necessary and the Ministry of
Proposed amendments would forbid the use of all personal electronic devices during school hours in high schools and below, starting from the next school year in August, the Ministry of Education said on Monday. The Regulations on the Use of Mobile Devices at Educational Facilities up to High Schools (高級中等以下學校校園行動載具使用原則) state that mobile devices — defined as mobile phones, laptops, tablets, smartwatches or other wearables — should be turned off at school. The changes would stipulate that use of such devices during class is forbidden, and the devices should be handed to a teacher or the school for safekeeping. The amendments also say
EMBRACING TAIWAN: US lawmakers have introduced an act aiming to replace the use of ‘Chinese Taipei’ with ‘Taiwan’ across all Washington’s federal agencies A group of US House of Representatives lawmakers has introduced legislation to replace the term “Chinese Taipei” with “Taiwan” across all federal agencies. US Representative Byron Donalds announced the introduction of the “America supports Taiwan act,” which would mandate federal agencies adopt “Taiwan” in place of “Chinese Taipei,” a news release on his page on the US House of Representatives’ Web site said. US representatives Mike Collins, Barry Moore and Tom Tiffany are cosponsors of the legislation, US political newspaper The Hill reported yesterday. “The legislation is a push to normalize the position of Taiwan as an autonomous country, although the official US
CONSISTENT COMMITMENT: The American Institute in Taiwan director said that the US would expand investment and trade relationships to make both nations more prosperous The US would not abandon its commitment to Taiwan, and would make Taiwan safer, stronger and more prosperous, American Institute in Taiwan Director Raymond Greene said. “The US’ commitment to Taiwan has been consistent over many administrations and over many years, and we will not abandon our commitment to Taiwan, including our opposition to any attempt to use force or coercion to change Taiwan’s status,” he said in an exclusive interview with the Liberty Times (the sister newspaper of the Taipei Times) on Friday last week, which was published in the Chinese-language newspaper yesterday. The US would double down on its efforts
RSS