President Tsai meets American Institute in Taiwan Chairman James Moriarty
On the morning of April 28, President Tsai Ing-wen met with American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) Chairman James Moriarty. President Tsai expressed her hope that through exchanges and cooperation between Taiwan and the US, Taiwan will be able to expand its international space. Chairman Moriarty praised Taiwan's contributions to the international community in the realm of healthcare, and said that the US supports Taiwan's participation as an observer at the World Health Assembly.
In remarks, the president noted that Chairman Moriarty had already visited Taiwan previously, in October of 2016, not long after taking up his post. Also, in January of 2017, when President Tsai visited Latin America and transited through the US cities of Houston and San Francisco, Chairman Moriarty made special trips to meet with her and accompany the Taiwan delegation. These actions demonstrate the extremely powerful and staunch friendship that the US has for Taiwan, and the president expressed her appreciation to the US side for their assistance and hospitality.
The president pointed out that the US has been Taiwan's most important partner for a long time, and that this year saw the 38th anniversary of the coming into effect of the Taiwan Relations Act. Not only did the US repeatedly reaffirm the Taiwan Relations Act prior to the recent meeting between US President Donald Trump and mainland Chinese leader Xi Jinping, but US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson also reaffirmed during his confirmation hearings that the US would uphold the Taiwan Relations Act and the "Six Assurances," demonstrating the importance that the US government places on Taiwan-US relations.
President Tsai added that the US has, over a long period of time, supported Taiwan's international space and recognized the significance of Taiwan's contributions to the international society. Chairman Moriarty, in remarks made this week at a public health workshop organized under the "Taiwan-US Global Cooperation and Training Framework (GCTF)," made a special point of stating that the US looks forward to Taiwan's continued participation in the World Health Assembly.
The president said that assistance and support from the US and other like-minded countries for Taiwan's participation in the WHA is a powerful means of recognizing and affirming Taiwan's international healthcare contributions, and it once again proves that Taiwan is an indispensable partner in the international community. She repeatedly emphasized: "Healthcare knows no borders. Participation in the WHA has a direct bearing upon the healthcare rights of our citizens, and they should not for any reason be deprived of these rights."
President Tsai stated her hope that Taiwan can, within existing bilateral and multilateral frameworks, strengthen cooperation with the US in a variety of areas, including anti-terrorism, public health, the digital economy, humanitarian aid, and women's rights. One outstanding example of cooperation was the joint announcement made at last year's APEC meeting in Peru to support the creation of an "APEC Women and the Economy Sub-Fund." The president expressed confidence that, building on the foundation of the Taiwan-US partnership, Taiwan will be able to make even more contributions to the international society.
In discussing the upgrading of Taiwan-US relations, President Tsai said she hoped for a future in which the US and Taiwan would be able to continue to strengthen an "upgraded version" of their partnership, including more strategic regional security cooperation, broader economic and trade links, and even more solidified mutual trust and cooperation.
The president added that, in terms of regional peace and collective security, Taiwan is prepared to play an even more proactive role, including a more active response to the US call for humanitarian assistance in the Middle East, as well as greater investment in national defense, cooperation with the US defense industry, and launching of the program for domestic manufacture of submarines by Taiwan. Through this process, she noted, the government of Taiwan will be able to strengthen cooperative relations with the US government and relevant industries. At the same time, as far as new American policies with respect to economic and trade ties are concerned, Taiwan has already made moves to address these matters and will in the future strive, as a partner in both policy and strategy, to build a completely new framework for Taiwan-US relations.
President Tsai mentioned that Taiwan will send its largest delegation ever to participate in the 2017 SelectUSA Investment Summit being held in Washington, DC, and moreover is organizing an agricultural friendship delegation to visit the US in September. She expressed hope that through the joint efforts, economic relations between Taiwan and the US will become ever closer.
The president also expressed confidence that, with Chairman Moriarty's help, dialogue between Taiwan and the US will be even smoother and more constructive, and that the two sides will undertake even more cooperative programs and continue to enhance the bilateral partnership.
In his remarks, Chairman Moriarty said that he was happy to be making his second trip to Taiwan since taking up his post as chairman of AIT, and to have the opportunity to reaffirm US commitments to Taiwan. Over the course of numerous US administrations and regardless of which party is in power, Taiwan-US relations have consistently been based on the Taiwan Relations Act and on mutually shared values, permitting the two sides to continually enjoy a strong and healthy friendship.
Chairman Moriarty mentioned that in recent years the US has been happy to be able to strengthen and upgrade the level of bilateral cooperation, and, through a variety of training activities sponsored jointly with Taiwan, to allow officials and experts from around the globe to visit Taiwan and learn from Taiwan's experiences. He pointed to this week's public health workshop sponsored jointly by Taiwan and the US, which put on full display Taiwan's capacity to provide valuable expertise in the prevention and management of global epidemics.
Chairman Moriarty also noted that the US affirms the leadership ability shown by Taiwan in issues that come before the WHA, and strongly supports Taiwan's participation as an observer at the WHA, so that Taiwan can continually demonstrate to the world community its expertise in, and its contributions to, international healthcare and public health.