2021/05/06 15:10 Formosa Club s latest chapter will launch in Indo-Pacific on May 7. Formosa Club s latest chapter will launch in Indo-Pacific on May 7. (CNA photo) TAIPEI (Taiwan News) An estimated 250 legislators from 17 countries are expected to sign up when Taiwan launches the Indo-Pacific chapter of its Formosa Club, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) said Thursday (May 6). The pro-Taiwan association already has branches covering Europe, Africa, Latin America, and West Asia, with hundreds of member lawmakers working to improve relations and enhance ties with the country. The official launch ceremony for the chapter has been scheduled for Friday (May 7), according to MOFA s East Asian and Pacific Affairs Department chief Larry Tseng (曾瑞利).
2021/02/02 18:27 Department Director of MOFA s East Asian and Pacific Affairs Tseng Jui-li. (MOFA photo) Department Director of MOFA s East Asian and Pacific Affairs Tseng Jui-li. (MOFA photo) TAIPEI (Taiwan News) Tseng Jui-li (曾瑞利), head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ (MOFA) East Asian and Pacific Affairs Department, said Tuesday (Feb. 2) that its representative office in Myanmar has not received any calls for assistance. The Myanmar military launched a coup on Monday, announcing that it will take over the government and take control of the country under a one-year state of emergency. Currently, there are about 1,000 Taiwanese living in Myanmar and 270 Taiwanese-owned factories, Tseng stated, per CNA.
Biden: More open policies
Although US President Joe Biden is expected to reverse many of Donald Trump s foreign policy decisions, stopping the rise of China will remain atop US foreign policy, a panel was told yesterday.
Prapee Apichatsakol, a political science lecturer at Srinakharinwirot University and vice president of the American Studies Association in Thailand, said tensions between the two superpowers were unlikely to change much under the Biden presidency as the rise of Chinese power and influence, especially in the Indo-Pacific region, still poses a threat to US economic and political hegemony.
However, Ms Prapee said she expected to see more open and multilateralist policies towards Asia from the Biden administration as the US pushed for a reinvigorated set of alliances in the Indo-Pacific to contain the rise of China.