The Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday expressed grief over the death of US Representative Ron Wright, describing him as a staunch friend of Taiwan.
The Republican lawmaker, who had been battling lung cancer, died of COVID-19 on Monday at the age of 67, his office said in a statement.
He was the first sitting member of the US Congress to die of the disease.
Photo: AP
On Jan. 21, Wright announced that he had tested positive for the virus after coming into contact with a patient with COVID-19 the previous week, saying that he only had minor symptoms and had so far been in quarantine for six days, the Dallas Morning News reported on Monday.
The ministry has instructed the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office (TECRO) in Washington to offer the condolences of the government and people of Taiwan to Wright’s family, spokeswoman Joanne Ou (歐江安) told a news briefing in Taipei yesterday.
Wright — “a staunch friend of Taiwan” — voted in favor of several bills that promote Taiwan’s interests, including the Taiwan Allies International Protection and Enhancement Initiative (TAIPEI) Act, which instructs the US government to deepen trade and security relations with Taiwan, and support its efforts to expand diplomatic relations and international participation, Ou said.
The TAIPEI Act was enacted last year.
The congressman had also voiced support for Taiwan’s participation in the WHO and for a bilateral trade agreement between Taipei and Washington, Ou said.
The ministry expressed its deepest sorrow over Wright’s death, saying that it would remember his contributions as a congressman to advancing Taiwan-US ties and his solid friendship with Taiwan, she said.
In December last year, Wright was one of 78 members of Congress who wrote to then-US secretary of state Mike Pompeo, calling for TECRO to be renamed the “Taiwan Representative Office” and departmental guidelines regarding dealings with Taiwan to be relaxed.
Before leaving his post last month, Pompeo lifted restrictions regarding Taipei-Washington interactions, which was considered by Taiwan to be a major diplomatic breakthrough.
The renaming of TECRO remains under discussion.
‘DENIAL DEFENSE’: The US would increase its military presence with uncrewed ships, and submarines, while boosting defense in the Indo-Pacific, a Pete Hegseth memo said The US is reorienting its military strategy to focus primarily on deterring a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan, a memo signed by US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth showed. The memo also called on Taiwan to increase its defense spending. The document, known as the “Interim National Defense Strategic Guidance,” was distributed this month and detailed the national defense plans of US President Donald Trump’s administration, an article in the Washington Post said on Saturday. It outlines how the US can prepare for a potential war with China and defend itself from threats in the “near abroad,” including Greenland and the Panama
A wild live dugong was found in Taiwan for the first time in 88 years, after it was accidentally caught by a fisher’s net on Tuesday in Yilan County’s Fenniaolin (粉鳥林). This is the first sighting of the species in Taiwan since 1937, having already been considered “extinct” in the country and considered as “vulnerable” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. A fisher surnamed Chen (陳) went to Fenniaolin to collect the fish in his netting, but instead caught a 3m long, 500kg dugong. The fisher released the animal back into the wild, not realizing it was an endangered species at
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) is maintaining close ties with Beijing, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) said yesterday, hours after a new round of Chinese military drills in the Taiwan Strait began. Political parties in a democracy have a responsibility to be loyal to the nation and defend its sovereignty, DPP spokesman Justin Wu (吳崢) told a news conference in Taipei. His comments came hours after Beijing announced via Chinese state media that the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s Eastern Theater Command was holding large-scale drills simulating a multi-pronged attack on Taiwan. Contrary to the KMT’s claims that it is staunchly anti-communist, KMT Deputy
The High Prosecutors’ Office yesterday withdrew an appeal against the acquittal of a former bank manager 22 years after his death, marking Taiwan’s first instance of prosecutors rendering posthumous justice to a wrongfully convicted defendant. Chu Ching-en (諸慶恩) — formerly a manager at the Taipei branch of BNP Paribas — was in 1999 accused by Weng Mao-chung (翁茂鍾), then-president of Chia Her Industrial Co, of forging a request for a fixed deposit of US$10 million by I-Hwa Industrial Co, a subsidiary of Chia Her, which was used as collateral. Chu was ruled not guilty in the first trial, but was found guilty
RSS