The free world should come together to support Taiwan and protect the nation’s achievements, former British prime minister Liz Truss told President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) yesterday in Taipei.
“What is being achieved here in Taiwan must be protected,” Truss said, calling on democracies around the world to support Taiwan’s endeavors to pursue democracy and economic development.
Freedom and democracy serve the best interests of societies, as they bring prosperity and happiness to people, she said.
Photo: REUTERS
The UK is “very clear that we need to maintain peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait,” as the world is facing increasing struggles between democracies and authoritarian regimes, she said.
Taiwan’s ability to defend itself must be ensured, she added.
In addition to security issues, the UK should also strengthen economic ties with Taiwan, she said.
“It’s no understatement to say that Taiwan powers the modern world,” Truss said.
She said that she found Taiwan’s economic achievements impressive, including strong growth rates and leadership in critical industries, especially while facing intimidation from China.
Truss mentioned the idea of forming an “economic NATO,” a concept she had talked about in a speech in Taipei on Wednesday, to allow like-minded democratic countries to cooperate economically to “challenge coercion by authoritarian regimes.”
Tsai welcomed Truss’ first visit to the country, and thanked her for her long-term support for Taiwan’s international participation and security issues across the Taiwan Strait.
The UK “elevated the Taiwan Strait issue from a regional to a global matter” thanks to Truss, as she encouraged G7 countries and NATO to publicly emphasize the importance of maintaining cross-strait peace and stability while serving as British foreign secretary from 2021 to last year, Tsai said.
Truss underlined the importance of democratic allies working together to defend against authoritarian expansion at the Copenhagen Democracy Summit on Monday, in which Tsai also participated, she said.
Taiwan has been sending the same message to the world: “By acting in solidarity, democracies around the globe will make each other stronger,” she said.
Cooperation between Taiwan and the UK has yielded fruitful outcomes in different sectors over the past few years, she said, adding that she hopes to see more exchanges in supply chain resilience, cybersecurity and technological innovation.
Tsai said she hopes to sign a bilateral trade agreement with the UK to further bolster economic ties between the two sides.
Truss is scheduled to conclude her visit today.
The combined effect of the monsoon, the outer rim of Typhoon Fengshen and a low-pressure system is expected to bring significant rainfall this week to various parts of the nation, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The heaviest rain is expected to occur today and tomorrow, with torrential rain expected in Keelung’s north coast, Yilan and the mountainous regions of Taipei and New Taipei City, the CWA said. Rivers could rise rapidly, and residents should stay away from riverbanks and avoid going to the mountains or engaging in water activities, it said. Scattered showers are expected today in central and
COOPERATION: Taiwan is aligning closely with US strategic objectives on various matters, including China’s rare earths restrictions, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said Taiwan could deal with China’s tightened export controls on rare earth metals by turning to “urban mining,” a researcher said yesterday. Rare earth metals, which are used in semiconductors and other electronic components, could be recovered from industrial or electronic waste to reduce reliance on imports, National Cheng Kung University Department of Resources Engineering professor Lee Cheng-han (李政翰) said. Despite their name, rare earth elements are not actually rare — their abundance in the Earth’s crust is relatively high, but they are dispersed, making extraction and refining energy-intensive and environmentally damaging, he said, adding that many countries have opted to
FORCED LABOR: A US court listed three Taiwanese and nine firms based in Taiwan in its indictment, with eight of the companies registered at the same address Nine companies registered in Taiwan, as well as three Taiwanese, on Tuesday were named by the US Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) as Specially Designated Nationals (SDNs) as a result of a US federal court indictment. The indictment unsealed at the federal court in Brooklyn, New York, said that Chen Zhi (陳志), a dual Cambodian-British national, is being indicted for fraud conspiracy, money laundering and overseeing Prince Holding Group’s forced-labor scam camps in Cambodia. At its peak, the company allegedly made US$30 million per day, court documents showed. The US government has seized Chen’s noncustodial wallet, which contains
SUPPLY CHAIN: Taiwan’s advantages in the drone industry include rapid production capacity that is independent of Chinese-made parts, the economic ministry said The Executive Yuan yesterday approved plans to invest NT$44.2 billion (US$1.44 billion) into domestic production of uncrewed aerial vehicles over the next six years, bringing Taiwan’s output value to more than NT$40 billion by 2030 and making the nation Asia’s democratic hub for the drone supply chain. The proposed budget has NT$33.8 billion in new allocations and NT$10.43 billion in existing funds, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said. Under the new development program, the public sector would purchase nearly 100,000 drones, of which 50,898 would be for civil and government use, while 48,750 would be for national defense, it said. The Ministry of
RSS