Office of the President Republic of China(Taiwan)

President Tsai Ing-wen met on the morning of October 3 with a delegation from the US Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS). The president reiterated the importance of the Taiwan-US partnership to the Asia-Pacific region, and expressed hope that the CSIS will continue to act as a bridge for communications between Taiwan and the US so that bilateral relations can grow even closer.

In remarks, President Tsai first mentioned the mass shooting in Las Vegas and extended deepest condolences to the victims and their families.

President Tsai noted that it has been four years since Mr. Michael J. Green, Senior Vice President for Asia and Japan Chair at the CSIS, last visited Taiwan. During that period, the security situation in the Asia-Pacific region has undergone many structural changes, including both traditional and non-traditional security threats. Through it all, the Taiwan-US partnership has continued to play an important role in the Asia-Pacific region as the two nations have worked together to defend shared values and interests. The president also extended sincere thanks to the US government for honoring its commitment to the Taiwan-US partnership, and for announcing yet another arms sale to Taiwan this past June.

President Tsai pointed out that Taiwan has long been committed to enhancing its role in maintaining Asia-Pacific regional security, and over the past year or so has continued working to boost national defense investment, improve the training of military personnel, and upgrade information security. Strengthening Taiwan-US military exchanges and links, she said, is especially important. Enhancing high-level exchanges and dialogue, for example, would be very helpful to enhancing the bilateral strategic relationship.

Commenting on economic and trade developments, President Tsai stated that Taiwan will work together with the US and other like-minded nations to achieve further progress in economic and trade ties. In order to achieve this goal, we will continue to pursue deregulation in an active effort to create a more favorable environment for foreign companies.

The CSIS, said the president, can play a key role in this process, because for many years now the CSIS has frequently published trenchant analyses on important international situations, and has laid a foundation for mutual trust among stakeholders in the Asia-Pacific region. The president expressed hope that the CSIS will continue to act as a bridge for communications between Taiwan and the US so that bilateral relations can grow even closer. In addition, she said she hopes that Taiwan can continue to cooperate with the visiting delegation to strengthen interactions and exchanges, and together take Taiwan-US relations to a new level.

The delegation also included Mr. Christopher K. Johnson (Freeman Chair in China Studies at the CSIS) and Mr. Andrew Shearer (Senior Adviser on Asia Pacific Security and Director at the CSIS).