Vice President William Lai (賴清德) yesterday called on the US Congress to support a secure and prosperous Indo-Pacific region during a meeting with a delegation of US academics.
Lai welcomed the delegation led by former US Senate majority leader Thomas Daschle, chairman of Washington-based think tank the Center for American Progress, at the Presidential Office in Taipei.
Lai thanked members of the delegation for their longstanding support for Taiwan, citing former US representative David Price’s work in the US Congressional Taiwan Caucus as an example.
Photo: CNA
Taiwan, occupying a core position within the first island chain and being on the front line of China’s military threats, is an important security and economic partner of the US in the Indo-Pacific region, he said.
He called for continued support for Taiwan from the center and the US to jointly ensure security and prosperity in the region.
The center’s focuses — strengthening public health, creating a good economic environment, addressing climate change and environmental justice, promoting ethnic equality and justice, and rebuilding trust in a democratic society — align with the direction of Taiwan’s national development, Lai said.
The president-elect said that he is looking forward to cooperating with the center after taking office in May to advance those goals and contribute to the international community.
Daschle congratulated Lai on winning the presidential election, adding that Taiwan admirably proved itself to be a vigorous democracy in the presidential and legislative elections in January.
With its dedication in the past 50 years, Taiwan has set a standard for all people who aspire to develop a mature democracy, and improve human rights and public health, which is commendable and worth learning from, he said.
Members of the delegation all look forward to continuing to cooperate closely with Taiwan on the economy and foreign affairs, he added.
Meanwhile, Czech Governmental Envoy for the Reconstruction of Ukraine Tomas Kopecny is to visit Taiwan next week to discuss joint efforts in aiding Ukraine, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said yesterday.
Kopecny is to visit Taiwan on Monday and Tuesday next week, following his previous trip in November last year, to advance cooperation between Taiwan and the Czech Republic on helping Ukraine, Department of European Affairs Director-General Eric Huang (黃鈞耀) told a news conference.
During his previous visit, Kopecny witnessed the signing of an agreement to work together to help reconstruction work in Ukraine.
The envoy is to hold in-depth discussions on rebuilding water purification facilities, and combined heat and power systems in Ukraine, Huang said.
Kopecny is also to meet with the Ukrainian community in Taiwan to learn about the expectations of overseas Ukrainians on national reconstruction, he said.
STILL COMMITTED: The US opposes any forced change to the ‘status quo’ in the Strait, but also does not seek conflict, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said US President Donald Trump’s administration released US$5.3 billion in previously frozen foreign aid, including US$870 million in security exemptions for programs in Taiwan, a list of exemptions reviewed by Reuters showed. Trump ordered a 90-day pause on foreign aid shortly after taking office on Jan. 20, halting funding for everything from programs that fight starvation and deadly diseases to providing shelters for millions of displaced people across the globe. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who has said that all foreign assistance must align with Trump’s “America First” priorities, issued waivers late last month on military aid to Israel and Egypt, the
France’s nuclear-powered aircraft carrier and accompanying warships were in the Philippines yesterday after holding combat drills with Philippine forces in the disputed South China Sea in a show of firepower that would likely antagonize China. The Charles de Gaulle on Friday docked at Subic Bay, a former US naval base northwest of Manila, for a break after more than two months of deployment in the Indo-Pacific region. The French carrier engaged with security allies for contingency readiness and to promote regional security, including with Philippine forces, navy ships and fighter jets. They held anti-submarine warfare drills and aerial combat training on Friday in
COMBAT READINESS: The military is reviewing weaponry, personnel resources, and mobilization and recovery forces to adjust defense strategies, the defense minister said The military has released a photograph of Minister of National Defense Wellington Koo (顧立雄) appearing to sit beside a US general during the annual Han Kuang military exercises on Friday last week in a historic first. In the photo, Koo, who was presiding over the drills with high-level officers, appears to be sitting next to US Marine Corps Major General Jay Bargeron, the director of strategic planning and policy of the US Indo-Pacific Command, although only Bargeron’s name tag is visible in the seat as “J5 Maj General.” It is the first time the military has released a photo of an active
CHANGE OF MIND: The Chinese crew at first showed a willingness to cooperate, but later regretted that when the ship arrived at the port and refused to enter Togolese Republic-registered Chinese freighter Hong Tai (宏泰號) and its crew have been detained on suspicion of deliberately damaging a submarine cable connecting Taiwan proper and Penghu County, the Coast Guard Administration said in a statement yesterday. The case would be subject to a “national security-level investigation” by the Tainan District Prosecutors’ Office, it added. The administration said that it had been monitoring the ship since 7:10pm on Saturday when it appeared to be loitering in waters about 6 nautical miles (11km) northwest of Tainan’s Chiang Chun Fishing Port, adding that the ship’s location was about 0.5 nautical miles north of the No.
RSS