‘TREASURED FRIEND’:Tsai said that relations with the US would enjoy the highest priority, while the AIT’s managing director lauded Taiwan’s democratic achievement
Taipei Times
Date: May 21, 2016
By: William Lowther / Staff reporter in WASHINGTON
President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) has promised the US that Taiwan will be a “shining beacon”
Attendees at President Tsai Ing-wen’s inauguration banquet at the Twin Oaks Estate in Washington yesterday watch a pre-recorded video of Tsai delivering a speech to the US. Photo: Nadia Tsao, Taipei Times
of freedom and democracy and a source of peace and stability in Asia and the world.
In a recorded video message to an inaugural celebration held at Taiwan’s Twin Oaks Estate in Washington, Tsai said Taiwan had once again shown that freedom, democracy and the rule of law were not just Western values, but were universal.
In the message, played shortly before Tsai’s inauguration, she told more than 100 guests, including members of the US Congress, officials from the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) and the US-Taiwan community, that the US was Taiwan’s “most treasured friend.”
Tsai said the US-Taiwan relationship had grown and evolved and that the US had helped provide Taiwan with the security and confidence to meet the challenges before it.
She said the administration of US President Barack Obama and the US Congress had reaffirmed Taiwan as a “vital partner” and that Taiwan’s relationship with the US would be of the highest priority in her administration. [FULL STORY]
