The US has shown clear bipartisan support for Taiwan’s security, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said yesterday, after US House of Representatives Speaker Mike Johnson on Tuesday rejected a bill that would have provided aid for Taiwan, Ukraine and Israel.
After all-night negotiations, the US Senate on Tuesday approved a US$95 billion emergency national security funding package to assist Taiwan, Ukraine and Israel.
However, before the Senate vote, Johnson on Monday evening issued a statement criticizing the bill, saying that it failed to “address America’s border crisis, the most critical aspect of our national security,” suggesting he would not schedule a vote for the legislation any time soon.
Photo: Yang Yao-ju, Taipei Times
In Taipei yesterday, North American Affairs Department Director-General Wang Liang-yu (王良玉) said when asked whether Johnson’s move would negatively affect Taiwan’s security that long-term, cross-party support for Taiwan in the US Congress is “obvious to all.”
The ministry thanked US lawmakers for advancing the bill and would continue to pay attention to the issue, Wang said.
Taiwan would work closely with the nation’s friends in the US based on the long-term solid friendship between the two sides, she said.
Separately, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg urged the US House to pass the bill to support Ukraine’s fight against Russia, Reuters reported on Wednesday.
If Russia wins the war, it would make the world more dangerous, as authoritarian leaders would be emboldened to “get what they want” by using military force, Stoltenberg said.
“Today it is Ukraine, tomorrow it can be in Taiwan. So Beijing, China is watching closely what’s going on in Ukraine,” he said.
In other news, the ministry said that Taiwan sets no preconditions for ties with other countries after Peter Kenilorea Jr, leader of the United Party in the Solomon Islands, on Tuesday said that he would seek to re-establish diplomatic ties with Taiwan.
The Pacific island nation has general elections scheduled for April.
Kenilorea told a news conference that his party aims to “encourage diplomatic growth” by inviting more embassies to be stationed in Honiara and re-establishing formal ties with Taiwan, the Solomon Star reported on Wednesday.
Solomon Islands Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare announced formal recognition of Beijing soon after the previous elections in 2019.
In Taipei yesterday, ministry spokesman Jeff Liu (劉永健) said that Taiwan has always been open to establishing relations with other countries and “does not set any preconditions.”
The ministry is to take seriously every opportunity that can help enhance Taiwan’s international status and expand its international space, Liu said.
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