The passage of the draft “creating helpful incentives to produce semiconductors (CHIPS) and science act” in the US Congress last month was a recognition of the common interests between Taiwan and the US, and opens the door for better economic exchanges between the two countries, US House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi told reporters yesterday.
The 82-year-old Democrat, who is the highest-ranking US official to visit Taiwan in 25 years, arrived at Taipei International Airport (Songshan airport) on Tuesday night.
“At the same time that the trip is taking place, we have passed the CHIPS for America act in recognition of our common economic interests,” she told a news conference after a meeting with President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文).
Lo Pei-de, Taipei Times
Asked whether she can promise any concrete and tangible benefits that would offset the cost of her trip that Taiwanese are expected to pay in the coming weeks, Pelosi said: “This is something that opens the doors for us for better economic exchanges. Several Taiwanese companies are already planning to invest in chip manufacturing in the US. The entrepreneurial spirit, the intellectual resources and the success of the tech industry in Taiwan has really been a model... With the CHIPS act, we are facilitating to reach our shared goal of increasing our partnership.”
Pelosi said that “a trade agreement might be possible and could occur soon,” without giving any details.
Pelosi yesterday also visited the Legislative Yuan and held a closed-door meeting with Deputy Legislative Speaker Tsai Chi-chang (蔡其昌) and the legislative caucus whips of four political parties.
Photo: Ann Wang, REUTERS
Legislative Yuan President You Si-kun (游錫堃), who could not meet with Pelosi in person after testing positive for COVID-19, spoke with her via videoconference.
Taiwan has become a beacon of democracy for the Chinese-speaking parts of the world after three peaceful transitions of power over the past two decades, You wrote on Facebook.
He praised Pelosi for leading a delegation to Taiwan despite the intimidation from China, adding that this showed the world that Taiwan-US relations are rock solid, and that Taiwan would not be alone in defending democracy.
Taiwan’s People Party (TPP) caucus whip Andy Chiu (邱臣遠) said he told Pelosi that the two sides should quickly sign a trade agreement.
Taiwan and the US “need to tackle inflation, labor shortages and issues related to supply chains with concrete actions,” he said.
Pelosi and the caucus whips also exchanged views on the National Security Law Beijing imposed in Hong Kong and the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), he said.
New Power Party caucus whip Chiu Hsien-chih (邱顯智) told reporters that they discussed human rights issues.
Pelosi holds the view that human rights and security are two sides of the same coin, and must be considered together, Chiu Hsien-chih said.
Pelosi and the caucus whips also discussed the situations in Tibet, Xinjiang and Hong Kong, as well as the plight of human rights lawyers and non-governmental organization employees in China, he said.
They also talked about differences between Taiwan and China, such as the ability of Taiwanese human rights lawyers to not only participate in elections, but hold public office, Chiu Hsien-chih added.
Additional reporting by Huang Ching-hsuan
SEND A MESSAGE: Sinking the amphibious assault ship, the lead warship of its class, is meant to show China the US Navy is capable of sinking their ships, an analyst said The US and allied navies plan to sink a 40,000-tonne ship at the latest Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) exercise to simulate defeating a Chinese amphibious assault on Taiwan. This year’s RIMPAC — the 29th iteration of the world’s largest naval exercise — involves the US, 28 partners, more than 25,000 personnel, 40 warships, three submarines and more than 150 aircraft operating in and around Hawaii from yesterday to Aug. 1, the US Navy said in a press release. The major components of the event include multidomain warfare exercises in multiship surface engagements, anti-submarine warfare and multi-axis defense of a carrier strike
Taiwanese could risk being extradited to China when traveling in countries with close ties to Beijing, Taiwan Association of University Professors deputy chairman Chen Li-fu (陳俐甫) said on Friday. Chen’s comments came after China on Friday last week announced new judicial guidelines targeting Taiwanese independence advocates. Myanmar, Cambodia, Laos and Djibouti are among the countries where Taiwanese could risk being extradited to China, he said. The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) on Thursday elevated the travel alert for China, Hong Kong and Macau to “orange” after Beijing announced its guidelines to “severely punish Taiwanese independence diehards for splitting the country and inciting secession.” Extradition treaties
The airspace around Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport and Taipei International Airport (Songshan airport) is to be closed for an hour on July 25 and July 23 respectively, due to the Han Kuang military exercises, the Ministry of National Defense said yesterday. The annual exercise is to be held on Taiwan proper and its outlying islands from July 22 to 26. During last year’s exercise, the military conducted anti-aircraft landing drills at the Taoyuan airport for the first time, for which a one-hour no-fly ban was issued. Based on a live-fire bulletin sent out by the Maritime and Port Bureau, the nation’s
CROSS-BORDER CRIME: The suspects cannot be charged with cybercrime in Indonesia as their targets were in Malaysia, an Indonesian immigration director said Indonesian immigration authorities have detained 103 Taiwanese after a raid at a villa on Bali, officials said yesterday. They were accused of misusing their visas and residence permits, and are suspected of possible cybercrimes, Safar Muhammad Godam, director of immigration supervision and enforcement at the Indonesian Ministry of Law and Human Rights told reporters at a news conference. “The 103 foreign nationals stayed at the villa and conducted suspicious activities, which we suspect are activities related to cybercrime activities,” he said, presenting laptops and routers at the news conference. Godam said Indonesian authorities cannot charge them with conducting cybercrime. “During the inspection, we