President Tsai Ing-wen (right) welcomes Richard C. Bush and a delegation of scholars from the U.S. and Japan at the Presidential Office June 13 in Taipei City. (Courtesy of PO)

President Tsai Ing-wen said June 13 that Taiwan is determined to ramp up cooperation with the U.S. and Japan in countering rising challenges to rules-based order in the Indo-Pacific.
 
Taiwan will deepen trilateral ties and work closely with the like-minded partners in promoting regional peace, stability and prosperity for the benefit of all, Tsai said. This approach is in line with the U.S.’s visions and principles for a free and open Indo-Pacific, she added.
 
Tsai made the remarks while receiving a delegation of academics and experts from the U.S. and Japan at the Presidential Office in Taipei City. Led by Richard C. Bush, senior fellow at Washington-based Brookings Institution and former chairman and managing director of the American institute in Taiwan, the six-member group is in Taiwan on a policy and political fact-finding visit.
 
According to Tsai, Taiwan and the U.S. were joined this year by Japan in co-staging workshops under the Global Cooperation and Training Framework. These focused on key subjects such as advancing women’s economic empowerment, enhancing cybersecurity, fighting corruption and managing drug-resistant tuberculosis.
 
The government expects to springboard off this solid foundation of collaboration and negotiate respective bilateral trade agreements while building support for Taiwan’s participation in the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership, Tsai said.
 
On the international participation front, Tsai said the government and people are deeply appreciative of the support shown by the U.S. and Japan for Taiwan in the face of China’s ongoing campaign of coercion.
 
Public calls by such partners and allies for the country to take part as an observer in the World Health Assembly are recognition of the ways in which Taiwan Can Help advance progress on many global issues, Tsai added.
 
The WHA is the annual meeting of the governing body of the World Health Organization. Taiwan was excluded from the 72nd edition running May 20-28 in Geneva at the request of Beijing. (SFC-E)