【The China Post 每日精選】:一

TAIPEI, Taiwan -- As "a symbolic expression" of the U.S. commitment to Taiwan, U.S. Marines will be posted at the new American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) compound in Taipei once it is open for business this year, former AIT Director Stephen Young said on Wednesday.

No Marines have been posted in Taiwan since Washington severed ties with Taipei and recognized Beijing instead in 1979.

中國郵報

▲圖/翻攝自中國郵報

Numerous media reports over the past few years have previously said that U.S. Marines would be posted at the AIT, but Young is the first ex-AIT official to speak publicly on the matter.

Having U.S. Marines posted at the de facto U.S. embassy in Taiwan would be seen as an indication of warming Taiwan-U.S. relations and could further anger China amid heightened cross-strait tensions since President Tsai Ing-wen assumed office in May 2016. Speaking at a seminar in Washington, Young, who was AIT director from 2006-2009, said he pushed strongly for the U.S. to "have a Marine security detachment protecting the mission in Taipei."

Commenting on the office compound in Neihu that is currently under construction, Young said, "We made sure when we were designing our new office building that we were going to build a very nice Marine house for our guys there." This is not only because they deserved it for their own purposes "but because when you go around the world, a Marine house is the social center of any diplomatic corps and it will be in Taipei as well," he said. This will be "a symbolic expression" of the U.S. commitment to its friends in Taiwan, Young said.

The AIT rented a 6-hectare compound in Neihu from the Taipei City Government for 99 years in 2004. The AIT's new office compound is being built on a 6.5-hectare hillside site within walking distance of the Neihu stop of Taipei's Neihu MRT line. The compound will include an office building of approximately 14,000 square meters, a parking area and ancillary structures. The compound was originally scheduled to be completed in 2015 but has been beset by delays.

No Confirmation from AIT Spokeswoman

The AIT did not comment on the statement by its former director. AIT spokeswoman Sonia Urbom told The China Post that AIT's New Office Compound was "a demonstration of our ongoing and continuously deepening commitment to Taiwan."

"As is the practice at AIT's current location, personnel detailed to AIT will provide security for the Office Compound in cooperation with local authorities," she noted.

"We do not discuss specific security matters concerning the protection of our facility," she added. Currently there are security personnel stationed at the AIT's headquarters in Taipei located in the city's Daan District, according to local media.

英文中國郵報

CH54三立新聞台直播
大數據推薦
【立院大現場直播中LIVE】3分鐘《財劃法》闖關!綠黨團甲動擋議事錄確認
熱銷商品
頻道推薦
直播✦活動
三立新聞網三立新聞網為了提供更好的閱讀內容,我們使用相關網站技術來改善使用者體驗,也尊重用戶的隱私權,特別提出聲明。
了解最新隱私權聲明 知道了