Taipei Economic and Cultural Office held “2020 Lunar New Year reception”
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Taipei Economic and Cultural Office held “2020 Lunar New Year reception” on February 1, 2020. The VIPs present included U.S. Representative Ed Case, former Chairman of the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) Amb. Raymond Burghardt, Dean of Consular Corps Hawaii Denis Salle and President of East-West Center Richard Vuylsteke.
In his opening remarks, Director General Michael Tseng mentioned that Taiwan’s presidential election in January carried three messages: First of all, the Taiwanese voters used votes to tell Beijing that Taiwan wouldn’t be intimidated under China’s pressures and to reject “One Country, Two Systems” suggested by Beijing. Secondly, to the Chinese people on the mainland, Taiwan had successfully conducted free elections in the past few decades, which is a testament to the fact that democracy is a universal value; if that can work in Taiwan, it should also work in China and Hong Kong. Thirdly, to the free world, while the Taiwanese people had committed to defending Taiwan and the free and open Indo-Pacific from Beijing’s authoritarian expansionism at the frontline, we need and deserve the support from all freedom-loving countries, and from all the Chinese diaspora.
