Taiwan and the United States will work together to address various global challenges in the future, Taiwan’s current Chief Executive Tsai Ing-wen said at a meeting with a delegation of US officials.
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Earlier, the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT, the de facto US embassy in Taiwan) reported that the US delegation, consisting of former deputy head of the US State Department James Steinberg and former national security adviser Stephen Hadley, will arrive in Taiwan on January 14.
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According to Tsai Ing-wen, the visit of American officials demonstrates not only US support for Taiwanese democracy, but also “the close and strong partnership between Taiwan and the United States.”
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She also expressed confidence that as their partnership develops, Taiwan and the United States will expand cooperation in areas such as environmental sustainability, scientific and technological development and education.
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“In the future, just as we fought the pandemic together, Taiwan and the United States will work together to address various global challenges,” Tsai Ing-wen said.
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She expressed hope that Taiwan-US relations will continue to develop and become an important driving force for regional and global prosperity and development.
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Elections for the head of the administration and deputies of the Legislative Yuan (Parliament) were held in Taiwan on Saturday, according to the Central Election Commission, the turnout was 69.8%. 19.5 million people were eligible to vote on Saturday, with a total of 17,795 polling stations set up across the island. The leader of the pro-Taiwan independence party, Lai Qingde, won with 40.05% of the vote.
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Shortly after the latest election data in Taiwan was released, the Chinese State Council Office of Taiwan Affairs released a statement from its spokesman Chen Binhua, who said that China will resolutely oppose actions aimed at achieving Taiwanese independence and interference by external forces.
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Official relations between the central government of the PRC and its island province were interrupted in 1949 after the Kuomintang forces led by Chiang Kai-shek, defeated in the civil war with the Communist Party of China, moved to Taiwan. Since then, Taiwan has been governed by its own administration.
