Representative to the US Alexander Yui was invited by US Representative Michael McCaul, chairman of the US House of Representatives Committee on Foreign Affairs, to listen to Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida’s address to the US Congress on Friday, the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office (TECRO) in Washington said.
Before Kishida’s address, Yui visited McCaul and discussed how to promote Taiwan-US cooperation in several fields, TECRO said.
“A pleasure to meet with Ambassador Yui of Taiwan, my guest to @JPN_PMO’s [Kishida] address to Congress today. We discussed additional ways in which the U.S. can support our partner Taiwan and promote greater cooperation and prosperity in the Indo-Pacific,” McCaul wrote on X.
Photo: Screen grab from US Representative Michael McCaul’s X account
Yui responded on X, saying: “Thank you Chairman @RepMcCaul for the kind invitation. I look forward to continue working with you to promote our shared values and common interests in the Indo-Pacific region.”
Kishida’s address at a joint meeting of the US Congress on Friday was titled “For the Future: Our Global Partnership.”
“As the geopolitical landscape changed and as Japan grew in confidence, we expanded our outlook beyond that of being America’s closest ally. We first became a regional partner of the United States, and now we have become your global partner,” Kishida said.
Photo: EPA-EFE
He said freedom and democracy are under threat around the globe.
“China’s current external stance and military actions present an unprecedented and the greatest strategic challenge, not only to the peace and security of Japan but to the peace and stability of the international community at large.”
“Ukraine of today may be East Asia of tomorrow,” he added.
Photo courtesy of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs
In other news, the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Canada, the US embassy in Ottawa and the University of Ottawa’s Information Integrity Lab on Friday held a Global Cooperation and Training Framework event titled “Building Democratic Resiliency Against Disinformation: Elections in Taiwan and Beyond” in the capital of Canada.
Opening remarks were given by Representative to Canada Harry Tseng (曾厚仁), US Ambassador to Canada David Cohen and Australian High Commissioner to Canada Scott Ryan.
Tseng said that Canada’s Indo-Pacific Strategy includes countering disinformation as a core issue, and facing complicated cognitive warfare tactics, Taiwan is ready to contribute to defending freedom and democracy with its democratic allies.
Cohen affirmed Taiwan’s achievements in countering disinformation, and quoted US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who once said that “Taiwan is a powerful affirmation of democracy.”
The US is committed to maintaining cross-strait peace and stability and the peaceful resolution of differences without coercion and pressure, Cohen said, adding that Taiwan-US partnership is based on shared democratic values.
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
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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.