President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) yesterday awarded a special honor to visiting former US secretary of state Mike Pompeo in recognition of his contributions to promoting closer ties between Washington and Taipei during his tenure.
Tsai conferred Pompeo, who was the US’ top diplomat under former president Donald Trump, with the Order of Brilliant Star with Special Grand Cordon, and called him a close friend of Taiwan, while expressing her deep gratitude on behalf of Taiwanese.
Tsai praised Pompeo’s groundbreaking measures in lifting US Department of State restrictions on how US officials interact with their Taiwanese counterparts in the absence of official ties, and facilitating high-level visits by US officials.
Photo: AFP / Presidential Office
Pompeo is popular in Taiwan due to his repeated public support for the nation, Tsai said.
Pompeo, wearing a mask bearing US and Taiwanese flags, thanked Tsai and Taiwanese.
Regarding his decision to end restrictions on exchanges between diplomats, Pompeo said it was a “simple, right and proper” decision to make.
Photo: AFP / Presidential Office
It was not partisan or political, but represented “American commitments,” he said, adding that it had been in his country’s best interests, and in the interest of securing and building on the friendship between the nations.
Regarding the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Pompeo said that Taiwan must not be allowed to go the same way as Ukraine.
“If any of us were mistaken or complacent about the risk to that freedom, I think we need only watch what’s taking place in Europe today to see that this continues to demand deep, concerted, focus[ed] leadership from those of us who cherish freedom,” he said.
Photo: Chen Chih-chu, Taipei Times
“I think these days call for the simple reminder that it is not provocative to say that one demands freedom,” he said, adding that “those who desire to destroy freedom, to change human lives” would see silence as “their opportunity.”
“I am confident that you will not permit that to happen on your watch, and I can assure you that the American people stand with you in that very effort,” Pompeo told Tsai.
Pompeo arrived late on Wednesday, accompanied by his wife, Susan Pompeo; his former adviser on China policy, Miles Yu (余茂春); and nine other people.
Photo: CNA
During his four-day trip, which concludes tomorrow, Pompeo and his wife are to meet with senior government officials and businesspeople before he gives a speech organized by the government-affiliated Prospect Foundation today.
China sanctioned Pompeo and 27 other top Trump-era officials as US President Joe Biden took office in January last year.
China’s People’s Daily yesterday called Pompeo an “extremely notorious” anti-China politician who “took pride in lying and deceit” while in office.
Additional reporting by Reuters and AFP
DEMOGRAPHICS: Robotics is the most promising answer to looming labor woes, the long-term care system and national contingency response, an official said Taiwan is to launch a five-year plan to boost the robotics industry in a bid to address labor shortages stemming from a declining and aging population, the Executive Yuan said yesterday. The government approved the initiative, dubbed the Smart Robotics Industry Promotion Plan, via executive order, senior officials told a post-Cabinet meeting news conference in Taipei. Taiwan’s population decline would strain the economy and the nation’s ability to care for vulnerable and elderly people, said Peter Hong (洪樂文), who heads the National Science and Technology Council’s (NSTC) Department of Engineering and Technologies. Projections show that the proportion of Taiwanese 65 or older would
Nvidia Corp yesterday unveiled its new high-speed interconnect technology, NVLink Fusion, with Taiwanese application-specific IC (ASIC) designers Alchip Technologies Ltd (世芯) and MediaTek Inc (聯發科) among the first to adopt the technology to help build semi-custom artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure for hyperscalers. Nvidia has opened its technology to outside users, as hyperscalers and cloud service providers are building their own cost-effective AI chips, or accelerators, used in AI servers by leveraging ASIC firms’ designing capabilities to reduce their dependence on Nvidia. Previously, NVLink technology was only available for Nvidia’s own AI platform. “NVLink Fusion opens Nvidia’s AI platform and rich ecosystem for
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) yesterday said it is building nine new advanced wafer manufacturing and packaging factories this year, accelerating its expansion amid strong demand for high-performance computing (HPC) and artificial intelligence (AI) applications. The chipmaker built on average five factories per year from 2021 to last year and three from 2017 to 2020, TSMC vice president of advanced technology and mask engineering T.S. Chang (張宗生) said at the company’s annual technology symposium in Hsinchu City. “We are quickening our pace even faster in 2025. We plan to build nine new factories, including eight wafer fabrication plants and one advanced
‘WORLD’S LOSS’: Taiwan’s exclusion robs the world of the benefits it could get from one of the foremost practitioners of disease prevention and public health, Minister Chiu said Taiwan should be allowed to join the World Health Assembly (WHA) as an irreplaceable contributor to global health and disease prevention efforts, Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said yesterday. He made the comment at a news conference in Taipei, hours before a Taiwanese delegation was to depart for Geneva, Switzerland, seeking to meet with foreign representatives for a bilateral meeting on the sidelines of the WHA, the WHO’s annual decisionmaking meeting, which would be held from Monday next week to May 27. As of yesterday, Taiwan had yet to receive an invitation. Taiwan has much to offer to the international community’s
RSS