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While meeting on the morning of September 22 with a delegation led by US Senator Steve Daines, President Tsai Ing-wen thanked the senator for his long-term support for Taiwan-US relations, and expressed hope that he will continue to enhance bilateral exchanges and cooperation in economic, trade, and security matters.
In remarks, President Tsai noted that Taiwan and Montana—the state that Senator Daines represents—have always had very close ties in the agricultural, business, and tourism sectors. The president sincerely thanked Senator Daines for the many years he has strongly supported Taiwan-US relations, and stated her belief that Senator Daines' support for Taiwan's international participation as a member of the US Senate Taiwan Caucus highlights the fact that the US and Taiwan have a shared commitment to democracy, human rights, and free trade.
President Tsai stated that Montana is home to the world-renowned Yellowstone National Park and produces high-quality agricultural products. In fact, she added, the 2017 Taiwan Agricultural Trade Goodwill Mission, which just recently returned from the US, visited the state of Montana and announced plans to purchase more of the state's soybeans, corn, and wheat.
The president further pointed out that Taiwan is one of the largest markets in Asia for US agricultural goods in general, and for agricultural goods from Montana in particular. Montana exported US$57 million worth of agricultural goods to Taiwan last year, and Taiwan was the second-largest Asian destination for Montana wheat, after Japan. These close trade ties demonstrate the longstanding win-win partnership that exists between Taiwan and the US.
President Tsai also mentioned that Taiwan and the US also have a shared objective to maintain peace, security, and stability in the Asia-Pacific region. Cooperation with the US in 2016 enhanced Taiwan's national defense self-sufficiency and industrial development, which shows that both Taiwan and the US are determined to stand together in facing up to the increasing uncertain challenges in the future. The US government has decided to elevate the US Cyber Command to a unified combatant command, and Taiwan also sees cyber issues as a matter of utmost importance. Just this past June, Taiwan's Ministry of National Defense established an Information, Communications and Electronic Force Command to enhance the country's information warfare capabilities. The president expressed hope that Taiwan and the US can engage in more exchanges in this area in the future.
Finally, President Tsai once again welcomed Senator Daines to Taiwan and voiced hope that her visitors could take advantage of this trip to develop a deeper understanding of democracy in Taiwan, and current political and economic conditions here.
In remarks of his own, Senator Daines expressed his gratitude to President Tsai for taking time out of her busy schedule to meet with him, and stated that although this was not his first visit to Taiwan, it was nevertheless his first time here in his capacity as a US senator. Speaking on behalf of the state of Montana, he sincerely thanked Taiwan for sending the trade mission to the US to sign letters of intent for imports that call for purchases of some US$3 billion worth of agricultural goods, and said he hopes to continue promoting Taiwan-US exchanges and cooperation.
