The 44th and 45th summits of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) took place in Vientiane, the capital of Laos, from October 6 to 11. During the meetings, the United States, Japan, Australia, India, the Republic of Korea, and other like-minded countries expressed concern about the situation in the South China Sea and underlined the importance of peace and stability in the region. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) welcomes and affirms these statements.
Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung called on like-minded partners to unite against authoritarianism and support Taiwan’s participation in global organizations.
Typhoon Yagi swept across Vietnam, Thailand, and Myanmar in September, triggering floods and landslides, causing many casualties, and damaging property. Despite suffering significant adverse effects themselves, Taiwan’s businesspeople in affected areas displayed the warmth of the Taiwanese people, making generous donations of relief supplies and assisting with reconstruction efforts.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs launched a short film in the lead-up to Double Tenth National Day that spotlights Taiwan’s accomplishments at home and abroad.
Taiwan partnered up with Australia, Canada, Japan and the U.S. to hold a seminar on leveraging technology to achieve sustainable development Sept. 19 in New York City, underscoring the country’s indispensable role in realizing the United Nations’ sustainable development goals, according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
US President Joe Biden met with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida in the US state of Delaware on September 21. In a readout released by the White House following the meeting, the two sides reaffirmed their resolve to maintain peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait and underscored their opposition to any attempts to change the status quo by force.
Following the meeting, the White House published a readout stating that the two leaders had discussed their support for maintaining peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait; their concerns about the coercive and destabilizing activities of the People’s Republic of China, including in the South China Sea; and the commitment of the United States and Australia to promoting a free and open Indo-Pacific that is secure and stable.
At Thursday’s weekly Cabinet meeting, Premier Cho Jung-tai received a briefing from the National Development Council on a plan to boost the nation’s talent competitiveness. The premier said that the government must expand its investment in skills, training talented individuals domestically and recruiting from abroad, in order to advance the artificial intelligence (AI) and digital transition, and add impetus to Taiwan’s innovation-driven model of economic development.
The 2024 New Southbound Policy Elite Study Program kicked off Sept. 13 in Taipei City, underscoring the government’s commitment to strengthening mutual understanding and boosting talent exchanges with target countries.
Premier Cho Jung-tai anticipated that joint international work by prosecutors, officers and other personnel at investigation and anti-corruption facilities would effectively handle transnational crime.
