People in Taipei yesterday watched the US election unfold with nervous anticipation, cheering for their favored candidates at events in the city.
As the US presidential election map took shape, about 80 foreign residents made their way to a live poll count event at the Brass Monkey bar and restaurant in Taipei.
American John Eastwood, who chairs the Democrats Abroad Taiwan, the main organizer of the event, said that his party places importance on Taiwan because of its free and democratic elections, and its approval of same-sex marriage.
Photo: CNA
“So there are a lot of ways that Taiwan — as a leader for human rights, civil rights, democracy — is absolutely appreciated within the Democratic Party,” said Eastwood, who has been living in Taiwan for 20 years with his family.
Even though the US Republican and Democratic parties appreciate Taiwan, he said he feels that former US vice president Joe Biden is a more reliable friend for Taiwan than US President Donald Trump.
“This is because Trump changes all the time and he makes bad decisions. He changes his mind and he does a lot of things based on his own personal self-interest,” Eastwood said.
Also expressing his support for Biden was university instructor Dave Hall, an American who has lived in Taiwan for nine years.
“Biden and Trump know the dangers of China, and they both will support Taiwan, but I think Trump’s support is very shallow,” Hall said.
“I mean, to be truthful, if China offered a Trump Towers in Beijing to him, he would give up Taiwan in a second,” he said.
However, Taiwanese Leo Chen said that he felt the opposite and commended Trump’s friendliness toward Taiwan by selling it high-end weapons.
“Trump’s win is extremely vital because he is very friendly to Taiwan,” Chen said.
“You can tell from the US selling MQ-9 Reaper [drones] to Taiwan,” he said.
Brass Monkey general manger Alex Whalen said that the establishment was trying to stay impartial during the watch party.
Elsewhere, a similar gathering was organized by the New Power Party (NPP), at which about 20 people watched the announcement of state results.
The party hopes to expand its focus on international affairs, NPP International Affairs Director Jerry Liu (劉仕傑) said.
Liu, a former foreign diplomat, said that future US policy on Taiwan and China is worth observing and that no matter who is elected, the US government would continue to maintain a friendly tone toward Taiwan.
It is sometimes said that NPP supporters are more in favor of Trump, but as a political party, the NPP remains neutral and would send a congratulatory letter to whoever is elected, he said.
Paul Huang (黃柏彰), a Taiwanese non-resident fellow at the Taiwanese Public Opinion Foundation, said that no matter who is elected, the US must face the rise of China’s economic and military power.
Taiwan should also not hold on to the illusion of relying on the US for protection, as its influence in the Asia-Pacific region would slowly diminish, Huang said.
An essay competition jointly organized by a local writing society and a publisher affiliated with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) might have contravened the Act Governing Relations Between the People of the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area (臺灣地區與大陸地區人民關係條例), the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said on Thursday. “In this case, the partner organization is clearly an agency under the CCP’s Fujian Provincial Committee,” MAC Deputy Minister and spokesperson Liang Wen-chieh (梁文傑) said at a news briefing in Taipei. “It also involves bringing Taiwanese students to China with all-expenses-paid arrangements to attend award ceremonies and camps,” Liang said. Those two “characteristics” are typically sufficient
A magnitude 5.9 earthquake that struck about 33km off the coast of Hualien City was the "main shock" in a series of quakes in the area, with aftershocks expected over the next three days, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Prior to the magnitude 5.9 quake shaking most of Taiwan at 6:53pm yesterday, six other earthquakes stronger than a magnitude of 4, starting with a magnitude 5.5 quake at 6:09pm, occurred in the area. CWA Seismological Center Director Wu Chien-fu (吳健富) confirmed that the quakes were all part of the same series and that the magnitude 5.5 temblor was
The brilliant blue waters, thick foliage and bucolic atmosphere on this seemingly idyllic archipelago deep in the Pacific Ocean belie the key role it now plays in a titanic geopolitical struggle. Palau is again on the front line as China, and the US and its allies prepare their forces in an intensifying contest for control over the Asia-Pacific region. The democratic nation of just 17,000 people hosts US-controlled airstrips and soon-to-be-completed radar installations that the US military describes as “critical” to monitoring vast swathes of water and airspace. It is also a key piece of the second island chain, a string of
The Central Weather Administration has issued a heat alert for southeastern Taiwan, warning of temperatures as high as 36°C today, while alerting some coastal areas of strong winds later in the day. Kaohsiung’s Neimen District (內門) and Pingtung County’s Neipu Township (內埔) are under an orange heat alert, which warns of temperatures as high as 36°C for three consecutive days, the CWA said, citing southwest winds. The heat would also extend to Tainan’s Nansi (楠西) and Yujing (玉井) districts, as well as Pingtung’s Gaoshu (高樹), Yanpu (鹽埔) and Majia (瑪家) townships, it said, forecasting highs of up to 36°C in those areas
RSS