President receives Sen. Rick Scott, pledges to deepen Taiwan-US ties

2022/07/12

President Tsai Ing-wen received U.S. Sen. Rick Scott and his delegation July 8 at the Presidential Office and looked forward to further expansion of the Taiwan-U.S. partnership.
 
Global challenges such as the COVID-19 pandemic and authoritarian expansion such as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine have demonstrated the need for democratic partners to deepen their cooperation, the president said.
 
The government will continue to work closely with the U.S. to jointly safeguard the stability and prosperity of the Indo-Pacific region, she said, adding that it will also continue to strengthen Taiwan-US trade relations.
 
Tsai took the opportunity to thank Scott for introducing bills concerning Taiwan’s security in both 2021 and 2022, as well as cosigning a letter to President Biden this May urging Taiwan’s inclusion in the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework.
 
The senator was the first member of the U.S. Congress to visit the Taiwanese Representative Office in Lithuania after its opening in Vilnius last November, the president said. Such a show of support demonstrated the spirit of solidarity shared by democratic partners, she added.
 
In response, Scott said he has always admired Taiwan’s resilience and dedication to the principles of freedom, as well as the business acumen and hard work of its people.
 
Russia’s actions and communist China’s leadership have shown that Taiwan and the U.S. must continue their cooperation to ensure Taiwan can defend freedom, he said. Scott added that all members of the democratic world need to work in unity to make sure that Taiwan continues to decide its own future.
 
In a tweet on its official Twitter account, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said “Minister Wu hosted a welcome banquet for @SenRickScott & his delegation at historic Taipei Guest House. Spirits were high as participants celebrated the cherished shared values underpinning rock-solid #Taiwan-#US ties, as well as an undeniable truism: Democracy will prevail!”


Source: Taiwan Today (https://taiwantoday.tw/index.php)