2021-06-25
DPP Thanks AIT Director Christensen and Deputy Greene for their dedication to Taiwan-US relations
Regarding the impending departure of AIT Director Brent Christensen and Deputy Director Raymond Greene, DPP Spokesperson Peifen Hsieh said today (25th) that during the tenures of Director Brent Christensen and Deputy Director Raymond Greene, the relationship between Taiwan and the United States has reached a higher level. Thus, the DPP sincerely thanks them for their dedication to Taiwan-US relations.
Spokesperson Hsieh recalled that over the past three years, the US Congress had passed a number of bills, including the Taiwan Assurance Act, the TAIPEI Act, and the Asia Reassurance Initiative Act, which fully demonstrate that the US’s support for Taiwan is a bipartisan consensus.
Spokesperson Hsieh further recalled that after the passage of the Taiwan Travel Act in 2018, President Tsai Ing-wen publicly visited NASA’s Johnson Space Center when she was passing through Houston during her “Journey of Joint Celebration,” becoming the first current president to enter a US federal agency. As the relationship between Taiwan and the US continues to deepen, President Tsai’s travel itinerary and media interviews during her visit to the US have continued to normalize on the basis of mutual trust between the two countries. In addition, Vice President Lai Ching-te also went to the US in 2020 as Vice President-elect to participate in the annual “National Prayer Breakfast,” demonstrating the solid foundation of mutual trust accumulated between Taiwan and the US in recent years.
These past months, US Secretary of Health and Human Services Alex Azar, Under Secretary of State for Economic Growth, Energy, and the Environment Keith Krach, Former Senator Chris Dodd, Former Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage, Former Deputy Secretary of State James Steinberg, current Senator Ladda Tammy Duckworth, current Senator Daniel Scott Sullivan, and current Senator Christopher Andrew Coons successively visited Taiwan, showing deep cooperation and progress between the relationship of Taiwan and the US at all levels.
Spokesperson Hsieh stated that the US Department of State also revised the restrictions on official exchanges between Taiwan and the US this year. The new guidelines further encouraged official exchanges between the two countries. At the beginning of this year, Ambassador Bi-khim Hsiao became the first official from Taiwan to be officially invited to represent the Taiwanese government at the inauguration of President Biden since 1979. At the same time, many Taiwanese representatives abroad have close contact with the local American ambassadors. The “Coordination Council for North American Affairs ” has also been renamed “Taiwan Council for US Affairs,” bringing closer exchanges between Taiwan and the US.
Spokesperson Hsieh emphasized that in addition to thanking the US for its continued arms sales to Taiwan, the recent G7 summit, the US-Japan summit, the US-South Korea summit, and the EU-US summit have all attached great importance to the issue of the Taiwan Strait. Therefore, “the importance of peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait” appeared in the statements of the major summits. In other fields, Taiwan and the US have also signed the “Taiwan-US Economic Prosperity Partnership Dialogue Memorandum of Understanding,” the “US-Taiwan Framework to Strengthen Infrastructure Finance and Market Building Cooperation,” “AIT-TECRO Memorandum of Understanding on Health Cooperation,” “Joint Declaration on 5G Security,” and the “Memorandum of Understanding on the Establishment of the Coast Guard Working Group” to work together for regional prosperity and peace.
Spokesperson Hsieh added that at a time when the global pandemic is severe, Taiwan is incredibly grateful to the US for its recent donation of 2.5 million doses of vaccines, which warm the hearts of Taiwanese people. This is the most concrete demonstration of true friendship between Taiwan and the US.
Spokesperson Hsieh said that President Tsai and the DPP have always been committed to deepening the relationship with like-minded democratic countries, and the US is an important friend of Taiwan. The DPP is the only political party in Taiwan with a representative office in Washington DC. The DPP has been operating its US mission for a long time and has helped Taiwan maintain good relations with the US executive, legislative, and think tanks. The DPP Department of International Affairs also actively strengthened exchanges with Director Brent Christensen during his service at AIT. Looking back on the progress of Taiwan-US relations in all aspects during the tenures of Director Brent Christensen and Deputy Director Raymond Greene, we are more convinced that “real friends, real progress” is not only a slogan, but a true reflection of the friendship between Taiwan and the US. The DPP sincerely thanks the two outstanding diplomats for their contributions. The DPP will, as always, continue to deepen the development of Taiwan-US relations on the foundation laid by Director Brent Christensen and Deputy Director Raymond Greene.
