President Tsai meets US delegation led by Senator Todd Young
On the morning of January 17, President Tsai Ing-wen met with a delegation led by US Senator Todd Young. In remarks, President Tsai stated that Senator Young is a strong supporter of Taiwan in the US Congress. He has long supported Taiwan's international participation and the deepening of Taiwan-US trade relations. The president also said that we look forward to signing a Taiwan-US avoidance of double taxation agreement at the earliest possible juncture, which will create even more opportunities for industries and talent in both of our countries to engage in exchanges.
A translation of President Tsai's remarks follows:
I extend a very warm welcome to Senator Todd Young. The arrival of this delegation soon after the swearing-in of the new United States Congress demonstrates unwavering friendship with Taiwan. We are delighted to receive friends from the US just as Taiwan prepares to celebrate the Lunar New Year.
Senator Young is a strong supporter of Taiwan in the US Congress. He has long voiced support for Taiwan' s international participation and the deepening of Taiwan-US trade relations. His state, Indiana, also has deep-rooted connections with Taiwan. Indiana was the first state to forge a sister-state relationship with Taiwan. More recently, Taiwan and Indiana have also established cooperation in education and research and development for the semiconductor field. I believe this will continue to strengthen our partnership going forward.
In facing expanding authoritarianism and post-pandemic economic challenges, we hope that Taiwan can continue to make good use of its capabilities in the semiconductor industry. We will work with like-minded partners to build a sustainable supply chain for semiconductors. This will help the economies of Taiwan, the US, and the world to continue to prosper and develop.
Senator Young was a key architect of the CHIPS and Science Act, demonstrating farsighted vision regarding the development of the US semiconductor industry. The act has opened up even more space for Taiwan-US cooperation in related fields. With Senator Young' s support, we look forward to signing a Taiwan-US avoidance of double taxation agreement at the earliest possible juncture, which will create even more opportunities for industries and talent in both of our countries to engage in exchange.
I understand that Senator Young follows digital trade and issues relating to digital transformation. A new round of talks under the Taiwan-US Initiative on 21st-Century Trade were held over the weekend. We believe that under this mechanism, Taiwan and the US can continue to promote collaboration in these fields and thus form an even more comprehensive trade and economic partnership.
I would like to take this opportunity to thank the US government and Congress for having given long-term attention to Taiwan' s security. I look forward to exchanging opinions with Senator Young regarding Taiwan-US collaboration on defense, national security, as well as economic security.
To conclude, I once again welcome Senator Young. Thank you for so firmly and earnestly supporting Taiwan by making us your first stop of the new year and after the swearing-in of the new Congress. I wish you a smooth and successful visit.
Senator Young then delivered remarks, a transcript of which follows:
Thank you, Madam President, and to the entire delegation. I am grateful for hosting me and the members of my team for the first time to this wonderful country. I was struck immediately upon landing by the friendly nature of the country, by your proud history, and your impressive efforts to unleash the talents and energies of your people.
You are a thriving democracy, and [there is a] stark contrast between your country here and the authoritarian regime across the Taiwan Strait. You should know that I am here for a number of reasons, but more than anything else, to reassure you that Republicans and Democrats and the United States Congress intend to continue to do whatever we can to support, to broaden, to strengthen, and deepen the US-Taiwan relationship.
The CHIPS and Science Act is of particular interest to me, as the Republican lead on this important legislation in the United States Congress. This is, as the president has indicated, a technological and business effort to deepen the relations between our countries. I'm here to learn more about how we can continue to do that, so we can sell more chips, employ more people, create more opportunities and more linkages between the United States and Taiwan and many other countries moving forward. That will benefit all of us.
At a personal level, as the United States Senator from the state of Indiana, I'm proud of the US-Taiwan relationship and the Indiana-Taiwan relationship. Indianapolis, as the president indicated, has long ago established a sister city relationship with Taipei. The state of Indiana established a sister state relationship with Taiwan soon thereafter.
Our values and shared interests are quite obvious, look only at the business relationships. A recently established relationship with MediaTek is important to both of our people, as is the relationship between many of your world class semiconductor companies and Purdue University, where Purdue continues to build out an impressive degree program focused exclusively on semiconductor research, design, and production.
The United States is of course a robust democracy, and in democracies we often have principled disagreements between our people. We will see some of those disagreements in the coming couple of years because we have divided government. But make no mistake, there is something that Republicans and Democrats alike are unified on, and will be unified with the next two years and beyond, that is the importance of supporting the US-Taiwan relationship and holding the Chinese Communist Party accountable.
I will look forward to the discussion with President Tsai today. She indicated a number of areas that were also on my list as priorities to discuss, including a potential tax agreement to provide more favorable treatment to Taiwan-based businesses, continued military cooperation, and of course ensuring that we cooperate every step of the way with Taiwan as we implement the CHIPS and Science Act. I want to wish the people of Taiwan a Happy Lunar New Year.
The delegation was accompanied to the Presidential Office by American Institute in Taiwan Taipei Office Director Sandra Oudkirk.