《TAIPEI TIMES》 MOFA official hails new US state representative offices

/ Staff Writer, with CNA

A senior Ministry of Foreign Affairs （MOFA） official on Thursday hailed the openings of representative offices in Taiwan this year of the US states of Minnesota, Pennsylvania and West Virginia.

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Twelve US states and one territory have representative offices in Taiwan, Department of North American Affairs Director-General Douglas Hsu （徐佑典） said at the annual appreciation reception of the American State Offices Association.

The governors of Indiana, Arizona and Idaho visited Taiwan this year, Hsu said, adding that the developments demonstrate increasingly close Taiwan-US ties.

The “breadth and depth” of ties between Taiwan and the US has continued to expand, he said.

Acting American Institute in Taiwan （AIT） commercial section head Clint Brewer said the two sides continued to maintain close trade and economic ties.

The total value of US agricultural and related product exports to Taiwan last year was US$3.94 billion, up 18 percent from 2020, making it the sixth-largest market for such exports from the US, Brewer said.

He said the AIT was working even harder to bring more US states to Taiwan as more Taiwanese companies are eager to invest in the US.

The other US state offices represent Florida, Hawaii, Maryland, Missouri, Montana, New Mexico, Pennsylvania, South Carolina and Wyoming, while Guam, an unincorporated US territory, also has an office in Taiwan.

Separately, Representative to Lithuania Eric Huang （黃鈞耀） has been named one of the 28 most influential individuals in Europe over the past year.

News site Politico included “Ambassador” Huang in its “Class of 2023” list, published on Wednesday, in its “Dreamers” category.

Politico said that Huang is “facing down Beijing” in Vilnius, “the European front line of the titanic tussle between the US and China.”

Politico said it acknowledged his efforts in lobbying European nations to establish closer ties with Taiwan amid economic and political sanctions imposed on Vilnius by Beijing for allowing Taiwan to name its de facto embassy “Taiwanese Representative Office in Lithuania,” instead of using “Taipei” in the name, as the nation does in many other countries that do not recognize it diplomatically.

To help the Baltic state offset the financial losses incurred due to the trade embargo, the foreign ministry created a US$200 million fund to invest in the Baltic nation’s semiconductor, biotech and laser technology sectors.

Capitalizing on the EU’s bid to develop its own chip manufacturing industry, Huang said he hopes Lithuania will inspire more European nations to forge closer ties with Taiwan.

“I want to encourage all European countries to establish a presence in Taiwan,” Huang said.

新聞來源：TAIPEI TIMES