Wed, Dec 09, 2020 page1

• Taiwan enjoys bipartisan support in US: ex-official

  • By Lin Chia-nan / Staff reporter
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  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-

  

  President Tsai Ing-wen gives a speech at the opening of the Taiwan-US-Japan Trilateral Indo-Pacific Security Dialogue in Taipei yesterday.

  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.
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