2023-03-22
Former White House NSA O’Brien Visits DPP and Expresses US’s Solid Support for Taiwan
Former White House National Security Advisor (NSA) and Chairman of the Global Taiwan Insitute’s (GTI) U.S.-Taiwan Task Force Robert O’Brien visited the DPP in the afternoon of March 22, leading a delegation of senior U.S.officials. The group held a rich discussion at the DPP headquarters. Topics included cross-strait relations, regional stability, Taiwan’s political environment, Taiwan-U.S. relations, and how to substantially increase U.S. support for Taiwan in the face of China’s intensified military threat. DPP Spokesperson and Director of International Affairs Department Peifen Hsieh noted the delegation attached great importance to the security of the Taiwan Strait and expressed their full support for strengthening Taiwan-U.S. ties.
In addition to Mr. O’Brien, the GTI delegation included Ms. Allison Hooker, former Senior Director for Asian Affairs at the National Security Council (NSC); Ms. Jennifer Hu, Chair of the Board of Directors at the GTI; Lt. Gen. Wallace C. Gregson, former Assistant Secretary of Defense for Asian and Pacific Security Affairs; Amb. Stephen Young, former Director of the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT/T); Dr. Lanhee Chen, David and Diane Steffy Fellow in American Public Policy Studies at the Hoover Institution; Mr. Ivan Kanapathy, former Deputy Senior Director for Asian Affairs at the National Security Council; Mr. Jamieson Greer, former Chief of Staff to the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR); Ms. Shihoko Goto, Director for Geoeconomics and Indo-Pacific Enterprise and Deputy Director for the Asia Program at the Wilson Center; and Mr. Marshall Reid, Program Manager at the GTI.
From the DPP, Chiou I-jen (邱義仁), Vice President of the New Frontier Foundation and the former Secretary-General of the NSC; Yang Yi-shan (楊懿珊), Deputy Secretary-General; Lo Chih-cheng (羅致政), Executive Director of the Policy Research and Coordinating Committee; Hsieh Peifen (謝佩芬), DPP Spoksperson and Director of the International Affairs Department; Chen Bo-zhou (陳博洲), Director of the Survey Center; and Chiu Wen-li (邱雯莉), Deputy Director of the Department of International Affairs jointly received the delegation.
During the meeting, Vice President Chiou stated that in the face of the PRC’s regional military expansion, the support of the U.S. and other like-minded democracies is crucial for Taiwan. The U.S. is particularly suited to help by increasing its efforts to support Taiwan’s military and economic resiliency.
Deputy Secretary-General Yang emphasized that party Chairperson Lai Ching-te continues to uphold President Tsai Ing-wen’s “ Four Commitments ” for managing cross-strait relations and will use this as a foundation to seek peace and regional stability. Taiwan will continue to stand for peace, but must at the same time express our resolve to defend ourselves. Safeguarding peace in the Asia-Pacific requires the concerted efforts of the U.S. and other democratic counties.
Executive Director Lo stated that Taiwan faces pervasive PRC cognitive warfare. Along with well-received DPP-led military reforms, only close cooperation with the U.S. military will prevent China from miscalculating the situation and initiating conflict in the Taiwan Strait.
Spokesperson Hsieh further explained to the press that during Robert O'Brien's tenure as NSA from 2019 to 2021, he was very friendly to Taiwan. He declassified the “Six Assurances,” supported the State Department’s relaxing of guidelines for Taiwan-U.S. exchange, and pushed the Trump Administration to send then-U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar II on a mission to Taiwan that set a number of good precedents for Taiwan-U.S. relations. After leaving office, he continued to pay attention to and speak up for Taiwan. The GTI delegation comprised several retired senior officials of the U.S. executive branch and experts in Indo-Pacific regional studies. Their remarks on Indo-Pacific security issues are of vast influence, and the DPP gained much from the exchange.
