President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) yesterday emphasized the importance of the Taiwan-US partnership in maintaining peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific region, as she received Project 2049 Institute chairman Randall Schriver and members of his delegation at the Presidential Office in Taipei.
Her meeting with the representatives of the US think thank marked the 45th anniversary of the day the Taiwan Relations Act took effect, a cornerstone legislation for Washington’s relationship with the nation, including arms sales to maintain Taiwan’s self-defense capability.
Tsai thanked the US government, Congress and the American people for their continued friendship with Taiwan, adding that Taipei is committed to deepening the partnership and cooperation between the two nations.
Photo: CNA
The Project 2049 Institute is a longtime contributor to the security of the Indo-Pacific region and has voiced support for Taiwan many times at public events and on social media, for which the nation is grateful, she said
Taipei and Washington have unceasingly strengthened the bilateral security partnership, with the US continuing to supply Taiwan with arms as stipulated in the Taiwan Relations Act and the “six assurances,” Tsai said.
The six assurances, agreed to by then-US president Ronald Reagan in July 1982, are guarantees that the US would not set a date for ending arms sales to Taiwan, hold prior consultations with China on weapons sales to Taiwan, play any mediation role between Taipei and Beijing, revise the Taiwan Relations Act, change its position regarding sovereignty over Taiwan, or exert pressure on Taiwan to negotiate with China.
Concurrent with US arms sales, Taiwan completed its first indigenous defense submarine, the Hai Kun, and six Tuo Chiang-class corvettes, demonstrating that the nation has the will and capability to defend itself, Tsai said.
Taiwan continues to safeguard regional peace and stability as a partner of the US, Tsai said, adding that she looks forward to exchanging views with the institute’s members.
Schriver said that the Taiwan Relations Act was not merely a contingent product of geostrategic events at the time of its writing, but also serves as an important platform for cooperation in trade, security and military affairs between Taipei and Washington.
Although some have said the Taiwan Relations Act should be amended, the legislation has undoubtedly enabled the two nations to finish the difficult and important work toward achieving the friendship they enjoy today, said Schriver, a former US assistant secretary of defense for Indo-Pacific security affairs.
The institute’s delegates pray for those affected by the earthquake, Schriver said, adding that Taiwan’s resilience and will in the face of adversity was heartening to see.
The institute thanked Tsai for her contributions to Taiwan-US relations and her inspired leadership during the COVID-19 pandemic from which the world can still benefit, he said.
Tropical Storm Usagi strengthened to a typhoon yesterday morning and remains on track to brush past southeastern Taiwan from tomorrow to Sunday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. As of 2pm yesterday, the storm was approximately 950km east-southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan proper’s southernmost point, the CWA said. It is expected to enter the Bashi Channel and then turn north, moving into waters southeast of Taiwan, it said. The agency said it could issue a sea warning in the early hours of today and a land warning in the afternoon. As of 2pm yesterday, the storm was moving at
DISCONTENT: The CCP finds positive content about the lives of the Chinese living in Taiwan threatening, as such video could upset people in China, an expert said Chinese spouses of Taiwanese who make videos about their lives in Taiwan have been facing online threats from people in China, a source said yesterday. Some young Chinese spouses of Taiwanese make videos about their lives in Taiwan, often speaking favorably about their living conditions in the nation compared with those in China, the source said. However, the videos have caught the attention of Chinese officials, causing the spouses to come under attack by Beijing’s cyberarmy, they said. “People have been messing with the YouTube channels of these Chinese spouses and have been harassing their family members back in China,”
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) yesterday said there are four weather systems in the western Pacific, with one likely to strengthen into a tropical storm and pose a threat to Taiwan. The nascent tropical storm would be named Usagi and would be the fourth storm in the western Pacific at the moment, along with Typhoon Yinxing and tropical storms Toraji and Manyi, the CWA said. It would be the first time that four tropical cyclones exist simultaneously in November, it added. Records from the meteorology agency showed that three tropical cyclones existed concurrently in January in 1968, 1991 and 1992.
GEOPOLITICAL CONCERNS: Foreign companies such as Nissan, Volkswagen and Konica Minolta have pulled back their operations in China this year Foreign companies pulled more money from China last quarter, a sign that some investors are still pessimistic even as Beijing rolls out stimulus measures aimed at stabilizing growth. China’s direct investment liabilities in its balance of payments dropped US$8.1 billion in the third quarter, data released by the Chinese State Administration of Foreign Exchange showed on Friday. The gauge, which measures foreign direct investment (FDI) in China, was down almost US$13 billion for the first nine months of the year. Foreign investment into China has slumped in the past three years after hitting a record in 2021, a casualty of geopolitical tensions,
RSS