The Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday declined to comment after former White House national security adviser John Bolton questioned US President Donald Trump’s commitment to Taiwan.
In his book The Room Where it Happened: A White House Memoir, Bolton wrote that Trump had sought the help of Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) for his re-election bid in November and that the president was “particularly dyspeptic” about Taiwan.
Trump often compared Taiwan to the tip of his Sharpies pen and China to his Resolute desk, he wrote.
Xi had urged the Trump administration not to allow President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) to travel to the US or to sell arms to Taiwan, while US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo once held back a congressional notification on an F-16 sale to Taiwan as he was worried that Trump might refuse to proceed with it, Bolton wrote.
Bolton served as national security adviser from April 2018 to September last year.
Asked to comment on Bolton’s book, ministry spokeswoman Joanne Ou (歐江安) at a regular news briefing in Taipei yesterday said that the ministry had no comment on the publication of the book, while reaffirming strong Taiwan-US ties.
Since Trump took office in January 2017, the US has repeatedly reiterated its commitment to the Taiwan Relations Act and the “six assurances,” while approving six arms sales, including a package that includes MK-48 Heavy Weight Torpedoes that was announced last month, she said.
Both nations have continued to boost their interactions, as demonstrated by Tsai’s transits in New York and Denver in July last year on her way to four Caribbean allies, she added.
Tsai’s transits in the two cities marked the longest time that a Taiwanese president had stayed in the US, Ou said.
Tsai also attended events at the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office alongside allies’ permanent representatives to the UN, also a breakthrough, she said.
The nation would continue to deepen its partnerships with the US based on mutual trust, she added.
DEFENSE: The National Security Bureau promised to expand communication and intelligence cooperation with global partners and enhance its strategic analytical skills China has not only increased military exercises and “gray zone” tactics against Taiwan this year, but also continues to recruit military personnel for espionage, the National Security Bureau (NSB) said yesterday in a report to the Legislative Yuan. The bureau submitted the report ahead of NSB Director-General Tsai Ming-yen’s (蔡明彥) appearance before the Foreign and National Defense Committee today. Last year, the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) conducted “Joint Sword-2024A and B” military exercises targeting Taiwan and carried out 40 combat readiness patrols, the bureau said. In addition, Chinese military aircraft entered Taiwan’s airspace 3,070 times last year, up about
The Overseas Community Affairs Council (OCAC) yesterday announced a fundraising campaign to support survivors of the magnitude 7.7 earthquake that struck Myanmar on March 28, with two prayer events scheduled in Taipei and Taichung later this week. “While initial rescue operations have concluded [in Myanmar], many survivors are now facing increasingly difficult living conditions,” OCAC Minister Hsu Chia-ching (徐佳青) told a news conference in Taipei. The fundraising campaign, which runs through May 31, is focused on supporting the reconstruction of damaged overseas compatriot schools, assisting students from Myanmar in Taiwan, and providing essential items, such as drinking water, food and medical supplies,
A magnitude 4.3 earthquake struck eastern Taiwan's Hualien County at 8:31am today, according to the Central Weather Administration (CWA). The epicenter of the temblor was located in Hualien County, about 70.3 kilometers south southwest of Hualien County Hall, at a depth of 23.2km, according to the administration. There were no immediate reports of damage resulting from the quake. The earthquake's intensity, which gauges the actual effect of a temblor, was highest in Taitung County, where it measured 3 on Taiwan's 7-tier intensity scale. The quake also measured an intensity of 2 in Hualien and Nantou counties, the CWA said.
STRICTER ENFORCEMENT: Taipei authorities warned against drunk cycling after a sharp rise in riding under the influence, urging greater public awareness of its illegality Taipei authorities have issued a public warning urging people not to ride bicycles after consuming alcohol, following a sharp rise in riding under the influence (DUI) cases involving bicycles. Five hundred and seven people were charged with DUI last year while riding YouBikes, personal bicycles, or other self-propelled two-wheelers — a fourfold increase from the previous year, data released by the Taipei Police Department’s Traffic Division showed. Of these, 33 cases were considered severe enough to be prosecuted under “offenses against public safety,” the data showed. Under the Road Traffic Management and Penalty Act (道路交通管理處罰條例), bicycles — including YouBikes and other
RSS