Taiwan Tati Cultural and Educational Foundation

Tillerson reaffirms US’ commitment to Taiwan

Taipei Times

US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson waits for a meeting with Canadian Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland at the US Department of State on Wednesday in Washington.
Photo: AFP

New US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson recently reaffirmed the “six assurances” regarding US policy toward Taiwan in response to questions from US Senator Ben Cardin before the US Senate confirmed him as the country’s top diplomat on Feb. 1.

Cards are falling in Taiwan’s favor

Huang Tien-lin 黃天麟

US President Donald Trump means what he says. As promised during his election campaign, on his third day in office Trump withdrew the US from the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade agreement, which his administration intends to replace with a series of bilateral trade agreements.

Although the move was widely criticized by international media and within academic circles, Trump made the correct decision.

Power play points to tensions ahead

Andrew Hammond

China warned US President Donald Trump’s administration on Saturday not to destabilize East Asia after US Secretary of Defense James Mattis said in Japan that the Senkaku Islands — also known as the Diaoyutai Islands (釣魚台) — claimed by Taiwan, Japan and China, were covered by a US-Japan military mutual-defence accord.

Mattis accused China of “shredding the trust” of its neighbors and his remarks build on those last month by US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson that Beijing should “not be allowed access” to its new, artificial islands in the South China Sea.

In support of a Taiwan-Japan FTA

Guo Kuo-hsing 郭國興

On Jan. 23, US President Donald Trump signed a presidential memorandum on the US’ withdrawal from the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP). Although this decision will have an impact on the export-oriented economies of Taiwan and Japan, it is also a great opportunity to start negotiations for a free-trade agreement (FTA) between the two nations, whose economies have both become mired in “L-shaped” long-term stagnation.

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