US President Joe Biden and Japanese Prime Minister Kishida Fumio reiterated their "resolve to maintain peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait" after the two leaders met in Hiroshima, Japan on Thursday ahead of the openning of the G7 Summit.
The two national leaders "committed to work closely together to address regional security challenges," with Biden calling the US-Japan Alliance "the cornerstone of regional peace and prosperity," according to a readout of the meeting released by the White House.
The regional challenges both leaders seek to address together include "the Democratic People's Republic of Korea's (DPRK) nuclear and ballistic missile programs and coercive behavior by the People's Republic of China that runs counter to international law," according to the readout.
Photo: Reuters
The two leaders also "underscored their opposition to any attempts to change the status quo by force, and reiterated their resolve to maintain peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait," according to the readout of the meeting held ahead of the Group of Seven (G7) nations' three-day gathering on May19 to 21.
In addition, they reaffirmed in the readout their support for "ASEAN centrality," and emphasized the importance of increasing multilateral cooperation in the Indo-Pacific region.
The US and Japan will also continue supporting Ukraine "as it defends itself from Russia's brutal and unlawful invasion," the two leaders were cited as saying in the readout.
Apart from regional security issues, Biden and Kishida also addressed efforts to bolster economic cooperation, including through negotiations on the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework (IPEF), the promotion of clean and secure energy, and the establishment of diverse and resilient critical minerals supply chains, according to the readout.
The Taipei MRT is open all night tonight following New Year’s Eve festivities, and is offering free rides from nearby Green Line stations. Taipei’s 2025 New Year’s Eve celebrations kick off at Taipei City Hall Square tonight, with performances from the boy band Energy, the South Korean girl group Apink, and singers Gigi Leung (梁詠琪) and Faith Yang (楊乃文). Taipei 101’s annual New Year’s firework display follows at midnight, themed around Taiwan’s Premier12 baseball championship. Estimates say there will be about 200,000 people in attendance, which is more than usual as this year’s celebrations overlap with A-mei’s (張惠妹) concert at Taipei Dome. There are
LOOKING FOR WHEELS: The military is seeking 8x8 single-chassis vehicles to test the new missile and potentially replace the nation’s existing launch vehicles, the source said Taiwan is developing a hypersonic missile based on the Ching Tien (擎天) supersonic cruise missile, and a Czech-made truck has been tentatively selected as its launch vehicle, a source said yesterday. The Ching Tien, formerly known as Yun Feng (雲峰, “Cloud Peak”), is a domestically developed missile with a range of 1,200km to 2,000km being deployed in casemate-type positions as of last month, an official said, speaking on the condition of anonymity. The hypersonic missile to be derived from the Ching Tien would feature improved range and a mobile launch platform, while the latter would most likely be a 12x12 single chassis
UP AND DOWN: The route would include a 16.4km underground section from Zuoying to Fongshan and a 9.5km elevated part from Fongshan to Pingtung Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) yesterday confirmed a project to extend the high-speed rail (HSR) to Pingtung County through Kaohsiung. Cho made the announcement at a ceremony commemorating the completion of a dome at Kaohsiung Main Station. The Ministry of Transportation and Communications approved the HSR expansion in 2019 using a route that branches off a line from Zuoying Station in Kaohsiung’s Zuoying District (左營). The project was ultimately delayed due to a lack of support for the route. The Zuoying route would have trains stop at the Zuoying Station and return to a junction before traveling southward to Pingtung County’s Lioukuaicuo Township (六塊厝).
The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) yesterday vowed to investigate claims made in a YouTube video about China’s efforts to politically influence young Taiwanese and encourage them to apply for Chinese ID cards. The council’s comments follow Saturday’s release of a video by Taiwanese rapper Chen Po-yuan (陳柏源) and YouTuber “Pa Chiung (八炯)” on China’s “united front” tactics. It is the second video on the subject the pair have released this month. In the video, Chen visits the Taiwan Youth Entrepreneurship Park in Quanzhou in China’s Fujian Province and the Strait Herald news platform in Xiamen, China. The Strait Herald — owned by newspaper
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