Good evening. It is wonderful to be here in the Bay area – my thanks to John Hsieh and other esteemed organizers for the invitation to speak to this important gathering of Taiwanese American business and civil society leaders.

I will return to this theme a bit later in my remarks, but speaking to diaspora groups such as yours is an important part of our public engagement – keeping audiences who care about U.S.-Taiwan relations up to date on our policy initiatives, but also educating the American public about why Taiwan matters to the security and prosperity of the United States—and of the world.

It is a momentous year for Taiwan’s democracy, with Taiwan’s presidential and legislative elections just concluding. The United States congratulates President-elect Lai and Vice President-elect Hsiao, as well as successful Legislative Yuan candidates, on their victories—and we commend the unsuccessful candidates on their hard-fought efforts and commitment to serving the people. And we look forward to working with everyone the Taiwan people have elected, across party lines.

After the election, Secretary of State Antony Blinken issued a strong statement noting how the people of Taiwan have once again demonstrated the strength of their robust democratic system. Taiwan’s diplomatic partners and more than a dozen of its unofficial partners also issued congratulatory statements in the hours and days after the election, a reflection of the growing number of countries that recognize the importance of Taiwan and of peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait.

In addition, the administration immediately dispatched former National Security Advisor Steve Hadley, and former Deputy Secretary of State Jim Steinberg to Taiwan. Accompanied by AIT Chair Laura Rosenberger, in their private capacity, these envoys met with President Tsai, President-elect Lai, and the other presidential candidates to convey the U.S. bipartisan support for advancing our longstanding unofficial relationship. They underscored the U.S. commitment to continuity in key policy areas, and to working across the political spectrum in Taiwan, including with the Legislative Yuan.

In the coming months as we engage with Taiwan’s incoming and outgoing administrations, our like-minded partners around the world, and audiences here in the United States, we continue to emphasize our commitment to the U.S.-Taiwan partnership. From administration to administration, support for Taiwan is rock-solid, principled, and bipartisan.

U.S. Policy
I know that every speaker from AIT says this, so please bear with me. But it is incredibly important at this time of transition to emphasize the continuity of U.S. policy toward Taiwan.

U.S. interests are not changing, and our policy toward Taiwan will remain the same.

Our one China policy, guided by the Taiwan Relations Act, Three Joint Communiques, and Six Assurances, has remained consistent for over four decades. A core tenet of our approach is our deep and abiding interest in maintaining peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait. This is in the national interest of the United States and contributes to regional and global security. Taiwan is a crucial partner in this effort.

In the post-election period leading up to the inauguration of President Lai, policy makers in the United States and Taiwan are working to make progress on key policy priorities that will maintain peace and stability and advance our robust partnership. As PRC military, economic, and diplomatic coercion of Taiwan continues, an increasingly crucial element of maintaining the cross-Strait status quo is bolstering Taiwan’s ability to withstand Beijing’s pressure and coercion.

It is important to call out the PRC’s coercive behavior. Since 2019, we have seen a dramatic increase in PLA military operations in the Taiwan Strait, paired with information manipulation campaigns and increasing economic and diplomatic pressure meant to isolate and pressure Taiwan. The timing of and justification for Nauru’s decision just two days after Taiwan’s elections to sever its diplomatic relations with Taiwan is but one example.

Resilience
The focus of the Biden-Harris administration is to signal and demonstrate the continuity of our approach, to help foster Taiwan’s resilience through our joint efforts and to advance initiatives that bolster our already strong economic partnership. And the last is particularly true as these economic activities can, in turn, increase Taiwan’s resilience.

I usually like visual analogies – and lately this one has worked for me when thinking about what the abstract concept of resilience looks like. This is a different framing than what others use, but please stay with me for a moment. If you are jumping on a trampoline, you want a really strong fabric with many layers, or you’ll fall through. The fabric must be woven of different types of fibers and the strands have to interlock in different directions. If you have a strong weave, a trampoline can withstand an intense amount of weight and pressure.

Just some of the strands that weave together resilience for Taiwan include: a credible self-defense capability, a broader whole of society effort that integrates civilian and defense agencies, increased support for Taiwan’s international space, and more widespread recognition of Taiwan’s fundamental centrality to a strong global economy. Let me elaborate on each of these elements.

Consistent with the Taiwan Relations Act, the United States remains committed to enabling Taiwan to maintain a sufficient self-defense capability through the use of Congressionally authorized tools and close cooperation with Taiwan as it pushes key defense reforms and resource investments in defense.

We’ve notified over $38 billion in FMS cases since 2010, including over $6.2 billion of that during the Biden-Harris Administration alone.
The Administration is also utilizing tools authorized by Congress, such as the Presidential Drawdown Authority and Foreign Military Financing. Through PDA, the United States announced $345 million in assistance last summer, and through FMF the United States will provide $135 million in assistance to support Taiwan’s self-defense capabilities.

And of course, as has been our longstanding policy, the United States remains focused on maintaining the capacity to resist any resort to force or other forms of coercion that would jeopardize the security, or the social or economic system, of the people on Taiwan.

The next strand in the strong fabric is Taiwan’s effort to enhance its resilience beyond just the traditional defense space to a broader effort: one that integrates Taiwan’s defense and civilian agencies through a range of initiatives, working with diverse players in Taiwan such as the Ministry of Digital Affairs, Ministry of Economic Affairs, and the Ministry of the Interior. This includes efforts to strengthen Taiwan’s cyber security posture, create a resilient energy grid, and strengthen its civilian preparedness.

Taiwan’s efforts in bolstering its defenses and resilience have gained momentum during the Tsai administration. These two threads are made even more impactful due to a third, increasingly significant one: the international community’s growing willingness to step forward and lend their voices as well.

As stated in the TRA, peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait is a matter of international concern—and international acknowledgement of Taiwan’s importance has substantially grown in recent years.

This is evidenced in joint statements such as G7 statements, the recent U.S.-EU Dialogue statement, U.S. trilateral statements with Japan and the ROK at Camp David in 2023, and the recent flurry of congratulatory statements on Taiwan’s elections—a total of 14 statements by unofficial partners including the U.S. and EU, according to our count, in addition to the many expressions of support from Taiwan’s diplomatic partners.

In close coordination with Taiwan, the United States continues to support Taiwan’s membership in international organizations where statehood is not a requirement and encourages Taiwan’s meaningful participation in organizations where its membership is not possible. You need only look at numerous U.S. statements over the years urging Taiwan’s inclusion in various fora, including the World Health Assembly – where we continue to campaign for Taiwan to be allowed to participate as an observer – and the International Civil Aviation Organization. And of course, Taiwan is a full and valued member in APEC and the WTO. As last year’s APEC host, we know that APEC host years are special moments, and the United States was proud to have that time to highlight the close U.S. economic cooperation with Taiwan.

There is a growing recognition that Taiwan matters. This understanding of Taiwan’s importance isn’t surprising but is worth analyzing. Taiwan is a leader in key global issues such as democratic resilience, pandemic preparedness, and human rights, including privacy, religious freedom, and freedom of expression, and – as we often say – is also a genuine force for good in the world.

But there is another reason that more actors – at the national level, but also at the subnational level and in the private sector – are adding their voices to the chorus of support for cross-Strait peace and stability. It is that Taiwan’s incredible economic heft is driving an understanding about Taiwan’s critical role in the world economy. This is something we should all care deeply about.

Trade, Investment, and Economic Issues
U.S.-Taiwan economic ties are an area of significant excitement, momentum, and focus. These ties make the United States and Taiwan more prosperous and innovative. Our mutually beneficial economic ties are perhaps the strongest fibers in our resilience trampoline, if you’ll forgive the continued use of this metaphor.

Taiwan is home to more than half of the global foundry business, and produces 60 percent of the world’s semiconductors, and 90 percent of advanced chips. Taiwan is the 8th largest economy in Asia and 20th largest in the world by purchasing power parity. According to the latest Commerce Department statistics, the U.S. is Taiwan’s second-largest trading partner, and Taiwan is our eighth largest trading partner. In 2023, U.S. exports of goods to Taiwan were $39.7 billion and imports from Taiwan were $41 billion.

We will continue to broaden and deepen our economic ties with Taiwan through streamlining trade practices and protocols, facilitating two-way, mutually beneficial investment in emerging sectors such as AI, 5G, cybersecurity, and energy, and helping Taiwan diversify and invest in secure, resilient, and reliable supply chains.

Let me touch on some recent milestones:
In December 2023, AIT and TECRO conducted the 4th annual U.S.-Taiwan Economic Prosperity Partnership Dialogue, which featured exchanges on responding to economic coercion, supply chain resilience and investment, addressing tax-related barriers to increased investment between the United States and Taiwan, and ensuring a secure energy transition toward Taiwan’s NetZero 2050 goals.

In trade: In June 2023, AIT and TECRO signed the first agreement under the U.S.-Taiwan Initiative for 21st Century Trade. In person negotiations for a second, follow-on agreement were held in late August 2023 on important issues such as agriculture, labor and the environment, and we anticipate further negotiations soon.

We applaud Taiwan’s development of similar arrangements with other partners. In October 2023, Taiwan and Canada completed talks on a bilateral deal to boost foreign investment, and in November last year, the UK and Taiwan signed an Enhanced Trade Partnership.

The Technology Trade and Investment Collaboration framework, or TTIC, works to facilitate deals between U.S. and Taiwan companies in the next generation telecommunications, electric vehicle, sustainable energy, semiconductor, and cybersecurity sectors through two-way investment and trade and remains a key component of our work to promote high-quality technology development that can increase the prosperity of private sectors, workers, and communities.

A Taiwan with robust foreign trade and investment, secure and resilient supply chains, and energy resilience is a Taiwan that is able to thrive, withstanding both regional and global shocks. And, it’s a Taiwan that can contribute its essential talents and expertise to the global economy—much-needed contributions that make the United States and the world economy stronger, more resilient, and more secure, too.

With this in mind, the U.S. and Taiwan continue to work together to promote development around the world. Last month, AIT and TECRO signed a Memorandum of Understanding that allows the U.S. Development Finance Corporation and Taiwan’s International Cooperation and Development Fund to finance joint development projects in the Indo-Pacific and Western Hemisphere. This followed our signing of several other Memoranda of Understanding with TECRO in 2022 that opened the door for USAID and the International Cooperation and Development Fund to cooperate on development and humanitarian assistance. We have since cooperated on several development projects with Taiwan and host country partners in Latin America, the Caribbean, and the Pacific that are making a difference in the lives of many. And we are continuing to evaluate and plan new cooperative projects with Taiwan in these areas as well as in Africa. As two highly capable partners, there is so much good we can achieve when we come together.

Subnational engagement and people to people
This evening’s talk with you comes on the heels of some other Bay area meetings I had over the last few days with industry and local leaders, and after this I’ll head to Denver to do the same. There is an appetite across the country to learn more about our policy approach to Taiwan. And many U.S. state and local governments are expanding their ties with Taiwan through trade, increased investment, educational exchanges, and sister city relationships.

Many U.S. State Governors and Senior State Trade Officials have visited Taiwan in recent months. In 2023 alone, four additional U.S. States — Arizona, Louisiana, North Carolina, and Virginia — opened new trade representative offices in Taipei, And just this week, Michigan announced their plans for an office, which will bring the total number of state offices to 18.

This growth is a testament to the deep-rooted business links, ever expanding ties, and growing recognition of the importance of Taiwan among the American people.

People-to-People Ties
Taiwan is also a standard-bearer in terms of facilitating people-to-people exchange—another field in which we are lucky enough to learn from Taiwan.
Just a few days ago, we hosted at AIT’s Washington headquarters the 4th High Level Education Dialogue under the U.S.-Taiwan Education Initiative. This initiative gives more Americans the opportunity to live, study, and teach on Taiwan, and also bring talented Mandarin language and STEM teachers from Taiwan here to the United States

In addition to the initiative, this exchange, an essential pillar of our partnership, is fostered through other U.S. government sponsored programs such as Fulbright, of which Taiwan hosts one of the largest programs in the world—around 300 American scholars and teachers per year.

Conclusion
I hope that I’ve been able to share with you some of the current thinking in Washington, while emphasizing the continuity of our approach. Maintaining stability and peace are the guiding lights for all of this work.

Taiwan’s own efforts to tell its story and emphasize its intrinsic importance on the world stage are also crucial, underscoring the value that Taiwan provides to the international community, and reframing the narrative away from one that views Taiwan only through the lens of the U.S.-China relationship. You all, as leaders of the Taiwanese American diaspora community, are at the forefront of this effort, and are actively helping to strength the US-Taiwan partnership every day.

Thank you so much for your work and dedication, and for your attention this evening.

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Source: American Institute in Taiwan (AIT)

Speaker: Ingrid Larson, Managing Director of the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT)

Format: Speech

Link to Original Source