With the long-term strategic competition between the U.S. and Mainland China and with the DPP being unable to maintain stable cross-strait relations, KMT Chairman Eric Chu has repeatedly emphasized that U.S. affairs will be the “top priority” of the KMT during his term. This Monday, Deputy Director Eric Huang of the KMT Department of International Affairs, who is currently in Washington, D.C., preparing for the KMT’s representative office in the United States, was invited to deliver a speech at a closed-door seminar by the Brookings Institution. Brookings is one of the most influential think tanks in the U.S., and Deputy Director Huang was the first invited speaker with a party position since the KMT became the opposition.
Due to COVID-19, the seminar was an online video conference with 20 participants, including U.S. dignitaries and academics. The response was overwhelmingly positive. The online video conference was presided over by Ryan Hass, former Director of Asia-Pacific Affairs at the NSC and current researcher of Brookings’ Foreign Policy Program and President of the Michael H. Armacost Project. During the seminar, Deputy Director Huang gave a speech to the attendees and took questions from the audience.
The video conference was the first time since Deputy Director Huang traveled to the U.S. to organize the KMT Representative Office at the end of last year. The forum allowed him to exchange views on Taiwan-U.S. relations and the international situations.
Eric Huang said the KMT is committed to deepening U.S.-Taiwan relations, and Chairman Chu has made every effort to re-establish formal channels of communication with the U.S. since taking office. During his month-long trip to the U.S., Deputy Director Huang conveyed the public opinion and the values of freedom and democracy that the KMT defends, and ensured that different views from Taiwan would be fully heard and discussed in Washington. He emphasized that Chairman Chu has a lot of old friends in Washington, and many of whom gave the chairman their blessing to regain the leadership of the KMT, and expressed their hope to meet with him in Washington soon.
The Brookings Institution, a world-renowned think tank that has repeatedly been ranked number one in the world, is located in Washington, D.C. It focuses on social sciences, with a special emphasis on global economic development, urban policy, government, foreign policy, and other major issues.
