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Taiwan envoy meets with U.S. lawmaker to discuss security

ROC Central News Agency

03/13/2023 11:46 AM

Washington, March 12 (CNA) Taiwan's top envoy to the United States Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴) met with Chris Smith, chair of the Congressional-Executive Commission on China, last week to discuss a number of issues relating to Taiwan's security needs and the Chinese Communist Party's security threats.

"Taiwan is a beacon of freedom and a great strategic partner who respects human rights and shares our values and aspirations," Smith was quoted as saying in a press release issued by his office on March 10.

During the meeting, he said the U.S. must stand firmly with Taiwan to counter the growing threat posed by the communist regime under Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平), not only to Taiwan but also to U.S. national security.

The two also discussed the need to amend U.S. Treasury Department regulations, which subject Taiwanese investors in the U.S. to double taxation.

According to Smith, it is unreasonable that Taiwanese investors are penalized with double taxation, especially when Taiwan is investing to manufacture semiconductors in the U.S.

"Taiwanese investors pay three times the tax rate on dividends compared to investors from China, which gets even more preferable treatment than our allies Australia and South Korea," he explained, describing Chinese investments in the U.S. also as a national security issue.

He cited as an example that while investors from China are buying farmland near strategically-sensitive locations, Taiwan is investing roughly US$40 billion to build semiconductor factories in the U.S., Smith said.

"The U.S. should be disincentivizing investment from Communist China while encouraging investment from democratic Taiwan-not the other way around," he said.

Meanwhile, he also personally thanked Taiwan for its donation of 300,000 medical masks to New Jersey residents in the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic.

"The people of Taiwan were there for us when we were facing the worst of COVID-19, and we must have their backs in their own time of need," Smith said.

(By Stacy Hsu and Ko Lin)

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