BILATERAL TIES:The lawmakers said that exchanges with their US peers showed that both sides hope for better cooperation on trade, the economy and security
Taipei Times
Date: Feb 17, 2017
By: Nadia Tsao and Jake Chung / Staff reporter in Washington, with staff writer
A delegation from the Taiwan-USA Inter-Parliamentary Amity Association on Wednesday
Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Hsiao Bi-khim, third left, Representative to the US Stanley Kao, third right, and other members of a delegation from the Taiwan-US Inter-Parliamentary Amity Association, on Wednesday in Washington unveil new Twin Oaks Estate stamps to mark the 80th anniversary of the mansion’s former role as home to Republic of China ambassadors to the US. Photo courtesy of Nadia Tsao
visited the US Department of State in Washington to meet Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of East Asian and Pacific Affairs Susan Thornton.
Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Wang Ding-yu (王定宇), one of the eight legislators in the delegation, said the meeting signified more stable Taiwan-US relations.
While Taiwanese legislators have visited the State Department individually before, it was the first time they were able to meet senior US officials as a group, Wang said on Wednesday night at the Twin Oaks Estate in Washington.
US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson has not yet tapped an official to head the bureau, but there are signs that US President Donald Trump’s government is leaning toward a continuation of policies enacted by former US president Barack Obama’s administration in its second term by gradually changing some guiding principles, which restricted US actions, on certain policies for the potential normalization of relations with Taiwan.
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