News

High Profile US Visit Lauded By Both President Tsai & KMT

The U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, Kelly Craft, will visit Taiwan from Wednesday to Friday next week in what is being touted as one of the most important visits by a foreign government representative in decades.

Kelly Knight Craft
C: US Department of State

According to sources, Ms. Craft’s visit will again demonstrate the continued support for Taiwan as a member of the international community with a speech expected to be given on Thursday, January 14th at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ ‘Institute of Diplomacy and International Affairs’ (IDIA) to refer to Taiwan’s “impressive contributions to the global community and the importance of Taiwan’s meaningful and expanded participation in international organizations.”

Ms. Craft’s only previous diplomatic experience prior to her role at the United Nations since September, 2019, was as ambassador to Canada for 22 months between late 2017 and her appointment to the UN.

The visit was initially announced by U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo earlier in the week, and has already seen Beijing object with the U.S. now said to in line to pay a “heavy price for its wrongdoings” according to China’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying.

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo (R) with UK Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab (L)

Meanwhile, Taiwan’s President Tsai of the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) took to Twitter on Saturday morning to say she “look(s) forward to welcoming” Ms. Craft on a “visit (that) marks an important milestone in the US-Taiwan partnership”

with the main opposition party in Taiwan, the Kuomintang, headed by Chiang Chi-chen,  soon thereafter releasing a statement saying the Party “welcomes Ambassador Craft’s visit to Taiwan as the people of Taiwan have always desired normalization of the diplomatic relations between the Republic of China and the United States” adding that “(A)ny high-level exchange of officials is expected to contribute substantially to the Taiwan-US relations, rather than to be formality.”

The KMT went on to congratulate the incoming U.S. President after days of civil unrest across the United States, but made a point of warning the ruling DPP to make efforts to be careful in its handling of the upcoming visit by Ms. Craft, saying “(As) President-elect Biden is inaugurated in days, we call on the DPP government to deal with the visit prudently so as to ensure the promising bilateral relations.”

Mark Buckton

Mark is a journalism vet of 20 years with most of those years spent in Tokyo, Japan, as a columnist for The Japan Times and numerous other publications. His work has appeared on CNN, in the BBC, NPR, and in several dozen other media forms and publications across five continents.

Recent Posts

Taiwan’s first indigenous submarine completes maiden sea trial in strategic defense milestone

Taiwan successfully completed the maiden sea trial of its first domestically developed submarine on Tuesday,…

2 weeks ago

U.S. launches strikes on Iran’s nuclear facilities in Operation Midnight Hammer

In an unprecedented covert operation, the United States carried out a high-risk, long-range bombing mission…

2 weeks ago

India’s Modi clarifies with Trump there was no US mediation in India-Pakistan ceasefire

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has firmly refuted claims made by U.S. President Donald Trump…

3 weeks ago

Trump exits G7 early amid escalating Iran-Israel crisis, warns Iranians to evacuate Tehran

U.S. President Donald Trump abruptly left the Group of Seven (G7) summit on Tuesday, citing…

3 weeks ago

Trump administration contemplates expanding travel ban to 36 more countries amid security concerns

The Trump administration is considering a dramatic expansion of its travel ban policy, potentially barring…

3 weeks ago

Iran strikes Tel Aviv and Haifa as Israel-Iran tensions reach its fourth day

Tensions in the Middle East escalated dramatically on Monday as Iran launched a barrage of…

3 weeks ago