A new fund for investing in allied countries with contributions from private entities as well as the government is being planned, Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said on Wednesday, as he confirmed that a presidential visit to Taiwan’s allies is being planned.
As Taiwan lost diplomatic ally Nauru to China shortly after January’s presidential election, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has been alert to China’s potential “poaching” of Taiwan’s allies, especially around President William Lai’s (賴清德) inauguration on May 20, Lin told reporters.
Although Taiwan’s allies have “stable relationships” with Taipei, China is nevertheless trying to discourage the nation’s international participation, Lin said.
Photo: Taipei Times
The ministry has formulated countermeasures against China’s Coast Guard Law and 22 guidelines “to punish Taiwan independence die-hards,” while also training officials at overseas missions to prepare for possible scenarios, he said.
Lin also confirmed that visits to allied nations by Lai are being arranged, although a full plan has not been determined.
A stopover in the US is part of the plan in accordance with precedent, he added.
The ministry would discuss how to arrange presidential visits in the US without inducing unnecessary responses ahead of the US presidential election in November, he said.
Meanwhile, Lin proposed an economic and trade diplomacy framework that would shift from strengthening allies to enhancing their prosperity.
Taiwan could share its industrial experience through collaborations on talent, capital and technology to create economic prosperity in allied countries, which would exert an influence on their neighbors in the long run, he said.
The Central and Eastern Europe Credit Fund has seen fruitful outcomes and the New Southbound Fund is being compiled, and a fund for a “prosperous allies” goal would be established next, with contributions to be from private entities as well as the government, Lin said.
The Executive Yuan’s economic diplomacy task force has announced two preparatory meetings and agreed to boost Taiwan’s international participation by utilizing the nation’s innovative energy from the “five trusted industry sectors” named by Lai: semiconductors, artificial intelligence, military, security and surveillance, and next-generation communications.
To enhance the prosperity of its allies, Taiwan would assist in constructing soft and hard infrastructure, and supply technical solutions in smart medicine, tourism, water resources, information systems and other fields, Lin said, adding that the policy aligns with the US government’s economic diplomacy task force set up last month and its strategy of “digital solidarity” announced in May.
Lin said that he has been reviewing and summarizing Taiwan’s collaborations with diplomatic allies, and would have more time to visit them to look into the bilateral collaboration programs and fulfil task objectives once this legislative session ends.
“Taiwan’s foreign cooperation strategy will resemble a ‘grid-like strategic structure,’ going from bilateral cooperation to regional, multilateral ones,” he said.
There is a plan for Taiwan to be included in the US defense supply chain as part of its friend-shoring policy, he added.
Additional reporting by CNA
Taiwan aims to open 18 representative offices and seven Taiwan Tourism Information Centers worldwide by next year to attract international visitors, the Tourism Administration said on Saturday. The agency has so far opened three representative offices abroad this year and would open two more before the end of the year, it said. It has also already opened information centers in Jakarta, Mumbai and Paris, and is to open one in Vancouver next month and in Manila in December, it said. Next year, it would also open offices in Amsterdam, Dubai and Sydney, it added. While the Cabinet did not mention international tourists in its
EYES AT SEA: Many marine enthusiasts have expressed interest in volunteering for coastal patrols, which would help identify stowaways and illegal fishing, the CGA said Six thousand coastal patrol volunteers are to be recruited for 159 inspection offices to enhance the nation’s response to “gray zone” conflicts, Coast Guard Administration (CGA) sources said yesterday. Volunteer teams would be established to increase the resilience of coastal defense systems in the wake of two unlawful entries attempted by Chinese over the past three months, Ocean Affairs Council Minister Kuan Bi-ling (管碧玲) said. A former Chinese navy captain drove a motorboat into the Tamsui River (淡水河) in Taipei on the eve of the Dragon Boat Festival in June, while another Chinese man sailed in a rubber boat into the Houkeng
NEXT LEVEL: The defense ministry confirmed that a video released last month featured personnel piloting new FPV drone systems being developed by the Armaments Bureau Taipei and Washington are pushing for their drone companies to work together to establish a China-free supply chain, the Financial Times reported on Friday. A delegation of high-level executives and US government officials were yesterday to arrive in Taipei to discuss with their Taiwanese counterparts collaboration on drone technology procurement and development, the report said. The executives represent 26 US manufacturers of drone and counter-drone systems, while the officials are from the US Department of Commerce and the US Department of Defense’s Defense Innovation Unit, along with Dev Shenoy, principal director for microelectronics in the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense
‘ANONYMOUS 64’: A national security official said that it is an attempt by China to increase domestic anti-Taiwanese sentiment and inflame cross-strait tensions The Ministry of National Defense’s (MND) Information, Communications and Electronic Force Command (ICEFCOM) yesterday denied accusations by China that it had undermined regional security by carrying out cyberattacks against targets in China, adding instead that Beijing was responsible for raising tensions and undermining regional peace. The Chinese Ministry of State Security on WeChat accused a hacker group called “Anonymous 64” of targeting China, Hong Kong and Macau starting earlier this year through frequent cyberattacks. The group carried out cyberattacks to seize control of Web sites, outdoor electronic billboards and video-on-demand platforms in China, Hong Kong and Macau, it said, adding the hackers’