Visiting former US undersecretary of state for economic growth, energy and the environment Keith Krach yesterday presented President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) with a Tech Freedom Award in recognition of her contribution to tech diplomacy and commitment to advancing freedom.
As chairman of the Krach Institute for Tech Diplomacy at Purdue and cochair of the Global Tech Security Commission, Krach gave the award to Tsai “on behalf of the Krach Institute and free people everywhere around the world.”
“May our partnership continue to flourish and inspire the world. God bless you, President Tsai. God bless the people of Taiwan. We salute you. We admire you. We honor you with the Tech Freedom Award,” he said.
Photo: CNA
Following his previous trip to Taiwan three years ago as a government official, this time he came “as a friend,” Krach said.
Taiwan and the US have bonded based on common values and were both founded on the belief that “there is no prosperity without freedom,” he said.
Taiwan was at the heart of the US global economic security strategy when he served as undersecretary of state, as it is a beacon of democracy and the embodiment of liberty, has remarkable achievements in technological innovation and is a true friend of the US, Krach added.
The Science and Technology Agreement signed by Taipei and Washington in 2020, and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co’s investment in the US “lay a foundation for a future free-trade agreement,” which is “long overdue,” Krach said.
“Technology must advance freedom” is the objective shared by both the institute and the commission, he added.
The commission is tasked by the US Congress to create a global tech security strategy to ensure that “technology serves humanity and isn’t weaponized against us by authoritarian regimes,” he said.
He welcomed Minister of Digital Affairs Audrey Tang (唐鳳) to the commission after she was tapped to be Taiwan’s representative.
Bolstering Taiwan’s prosperity, international standing and sovereignty is “a critical imperative” of the strategy, so the commission is to launch the Taiwan Center for Innovation and Prosperity, he said.
“Without a strong, resilient [and] free Taiwan, freedom everywhere will be imperiled by authoritarianism,” he said.
China is threatened by Taiwan because “free and prosperous Taiwan shatters [Chinese President] Xi Jinping’s [習近平] myth that the Chinese culture cannot thrive as a democracy, but it does,” Krach said.
The US and free countries around the globe stand with Taiwan, not only to demonstrate solidarity among democracies, but also because it is in their economic, technological, scientific and national security interest, he said.
Tsai thanked Krach for his staunch friendship with Taiwan, citing as examples his work to establish the US-Taiwan Economic Prosperity Partnership Dialogue and signing of the Science and Technology Agreement.
Taiwan hopes to further deepen cooperation and exchanges with the US and expedite the signing of an agreement on the avoidance of double taxation, which would create more opportunities for bilateral investment, she said.
Taipei and New Taipei City government officials are aiming to have the first phase of the Wanhua-Jungho-Shulin Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) line completed and opened by 2027, following the arrival of the first train set yesterday. The 22km-long Light Green Line would connect four densely populated districts in Taipei and New Taipei City: Wanhua (萬華), Jhonghe (中和), Tucheng (土城) and Shulin (樹林). The first phase of the project would connect Wanhua and Jhonghe districts, with Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall and Chukuang (莒光) being the terminal stations. The two municipalities jointly hosted a ceremony for the first train to be used
MILITARY AID: Taiwan has received a first batch of US long-range tactical missiles ahead of schedule, with a second shipment expected to be delivered by 2026 The US’ early delivery of long-range tactical ballistic missiles to Taiwan last month carries political and strategic significance, a military source said yesterday. According to the Ministry of National Defense’s budget report, the batch of military hardware from the US, including 11 sets of M142 High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS) and 64 MGM-140 Army Tactical Missile Systems, had been scheduled to be delivered to Taiwan between the end of this year and the beginning of next year. However, the first batch arrived last month, earlier than scheduled, with the second batch —18 sets of HIMARS, 20 MGM-140 missiles and 864 M30
Representative to the US Alexander Yui delivered a letter from the government to US president-elect Donald Trump during a meeting with a former Trump administration official, CNN reported yesterday. Yui on Thursday met with former US national security adviser Robert O’Brien over a private lunch in Salt Lake City, Utah, with US Representative Chris Stewart, the Web site of the US cable news channel reported, citing three sources familiar with the matter. “During that lunch the letter was passed along, and then shared with Trump, two of the sources said,” CNN said. O’Brien declined to comment on the lunch, as did the Taipei
A woman who allegedly attacked a high-school student with a utility knife, injuring his face, on a Taipei metro train late on Friday has been transferred to prosecutors, police said yesterday. The incident occurred near MRT Xinpu Station at about 10:17pm on a Bannan Line train headed toward Dingpu, New Taipei City police said. Before police arrived at the station to arrest the suspect, a woman surnamed Wang (王) who is in her early 40s, she had already been subdued by four male passengers, one of whom was an off-duty Taipei police officer, police said. The student, 17, who sustained a cut about
RSS