US Representative Andy Barr said he plans to attend Vice President William Lai’s (賴清德) inauguration in May, and expressed support for Taiwan’s democracy and defense at an event in Washington on Tuesday.
The cochair of the Congressional Taiwan Caucus made the comments at a news conference held by the Taiwanese Chambers of Commerce of North America (TCCNA).
Apart from attending the inauguration, Barr reiterated his support for Taiwan’s democracy and strengthening its military deterrence, as well as continued deepening of economic ties between the two nations.
Photo: CNA
Also speaking at the event, US Representative Young Kim said she would continue to strengthen the already-strong relationship between Taiwan and the US, especially in her new role as chair of the US House Subcommittee on the Indo-Pacific.
Kim joked she is Taiwan’s “badass advocate” in Washington, taking it as her mission to ensure Taiwan receives the armaments it needs.
The news conference was held to publicize a door-to-door advocacy mission for Taiwan on Capitol Hill.
The goal is to strengthen Taiwan’s voice in Washington and accelerate progress on the double-taxation agreement, said Eugenia Pai (白越珠), a TCCNA vice president at its Washington branch.
Over the past few days, more than 30 Taiwanese businesspeople have visited US congressional members nonstop, she said, adding that everyone has expressed support, regardless of party affiliation.
Some advocates did not even have to say a word, with the lawmaker saying they fully support their proposals after reading their brief for a matter of seconds, Pai added.
A former member of the US Naval Special Warfare Development Group (DEVGRU), formerly known as SEAL Team 6, said in an interview with Business Insider that the elite unit’s role in a Taiwan Strait conflict would be more limited than some might expect. The report follows an earlier one in September by the Financial Times, which said the “clandestine US Navy commando unit” has been training for missions to help Taiwan if it is invaded by China. “You don’t use a scalpel for a job a hammer can do,” the former Navy Seal said to Business Insider on condition of anonymity.
Rain is to increase from Wednesday morning as Severe Tropical Storm Kong-Rey approaches, with sea warnings to be issued as early as tomorrow afternoon, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said today. As of 8am, Kong-Rey was 1,050km east-southeast of the Hengchun Peninsula (恆春) heading in a northwesterly direction toward Taiwan, CWA Forecast Center Director Lin Po-tung (林伯東) said. Rainfall is to increase from Wednesday morning, especially in northern Taiwan and Yilan County, he said. A sea warning is possible from tomorrow afternoon, while a land warning may be issued on Wednesday morning, he added. Kong-Rey may intensify into a moderate typhoon as it passes
HACKERS’ MARKET: Chat logs about Taiwan and documents outlining ways to take over online accounts were leaked from a company that sells data from hacks Taiwanese cybersecurity specialists found 577 leaked documents which show that the Chinese Communist Party is engaging in “cognitive warfare” against Taiwan through cyberattacks and disinformation campaigns, a documentary released last month by Japanese public broadcaster NHK showed. The filmmakers behind Tracking China’s Leaked Documents said they spent six months visiting seven countries, including Taiwan, where they interviewed members of TeamT5, a malware research and cybersecurity firm, which found the leaked documents. TeamT5 said they discovered a string of mysterious URLs on the social media platform X, which they suspected could be accounts created by hackers or people who leaked data, which led
RESOURCE RICH: Taiwan is located in the Pacific Ring of Fire and has up to 30 gigawatts of the potential energy, of which 10 gigawatts could be economically viable Academia Sinica and CPC Corp yesterday began drilling the nation’s first deep geothermal well in Yilan County’s Yuanshan Township (員山). The 4km-deep well is expected to take 18 months to complete and has an estimated investment of NT$337 million (US$10.54 million), Academia Sinica President James Liao (廖俊智) said. “While Taiwan has up to 30 gigawatts of potential deep geothermal energy, with an estimated 10 gigawatts being economically viable, only by digging wells can we determine the actual amount of commercially viable geothermal energy,” Liao said at the project’s opening ceremony. Data collected during and after the excavation process would be used for future