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.
‘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
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
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