Former US undersecretary of state Keith Krach has been nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize, in part for his work protecting freedoms for Taiwan and Uighurs.
“Mr Krach has ... spoken out — loudly and consistently — in support of Taiwan and its drive for independence,” the New Architecture Foundation said in its letter submitting the nomination.
In Washington, Krach served as the top official for economic growth, energy and the environment under former US president Donald Trump, and still serves as a senior adviser for the administration of US President Joe Biden.
Photo: Presidential Office via AP
He made headlines in 2020 when he became the highest-ranking US Department of State official to visit Taiwan since the nations severed diplomatic ties in 1979.
During the September visit, he attended a memorial service for former president Lee Teng-hui (李登輝), and spoke with officials and representatives from various sectors on bolstering economic and other partnerships.
Krach in May 2020 also brokered a US$12 billion plan for Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (台積電) to build a 5-nanometer fab in Arizona, setting the stage for other chip producers to build their own “trusted” facilities in the US.
Photo: Reuters
Krach also played an instrumental role in leading the US to formally recognize Uighur internment camps as “state-sponsored genocide.”
The nominators highlighted Krach’s efforts to build the Clean Network, an alliance aiming to help democracies build secure network infrastructure in response to China’s ambitions to control 5G communications.
The alliance, launched in 2020, now boasts 60 nations comprising two-thirds of global GDP, as well as more than 200 telecoms.
It was formed on the basis of the “trust principle,” a “democratic and peaceful alternative to China’s power principle” that uses transparency, positive reinforcement and economic solidarity to achieve success, the nominators said.
“Peaceful partnership, not fear mongering. That is the stark choice that Keith Krach has enabled through his years-long campaign and mission to unify the world around a common, peaceful technology accord, formally recognized today as the Clean Network alliance,” the letter said.
Taiwan counts itself among the network’s ranks, creating the opportunity to recognize its sovereignty, it added.
“Keith Krach’s attendant efforts regarding human rights abuses by China and Taiwan’s quest for independence are, in many ways, just different colors in the same noble cause that Mr Krach pursues as a life purpose,” the nominators said. “The world truly is a better and safer place because of his courage and efforts.”
‘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
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
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
DEADLOCK: As the commission is unable to forum a quorum to review license renewal applications, the channel operators are not at fault and can air past their license date The National Communications Commission (NCC) yesterday said that the Public Television Service (PTS) and 36 other television and radio broadcasters could continue airing, despite the commission’s inability to meet a quorum to review their license renewal applications. The licenses of PTS and the other channels are set to expire between this month and June. The National Communications Commission Organization Act (國家通訊傳播委員會組織法) stipulates that the commission must meet the mandated quorum of four to hold a valid meeting. The seven-member commission currently has only three commissioners. “We have informed the channel operators of the progress we have made in reviewing their license renewal applications, and