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  • Lecture posted May 1, 2013 by Honorable Ed Royce The Enduring Legacy of America’s Commitment to Asia

    EDWIN J. FEULNER: I’m Ed Feulner. For the next 13 days, I am the president of The Heritage Foundation. I’m delighted to have with us this morning my successor as the new president of The Heritage Foundation, Senator Jim DeMint. Senator, we are very happy that you are able to join us this morning for our 16th annual B.C. Lee Lecture. It’s good to see so many friends here,…

  • Issue Brief posted October 3, 2012 by Jessica Zuckerman Taiwan Admitted to the Visa Waiver Program

    The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has announced the addition of Taiwan to the Visa Waiver Program (VWP). Taiwanese citizens will now be eligible to travel to the U.S. for up to 90 days visa-free. However, key U.S. allies and friends—such as Poland, Bulgaria, Romania, and Croatia—continue to be left waiting to join the VWP. These delays make little sense given…

  • White Paper posted July 17, 2012 by Walter Lohman, John Fleming, Robert Warshaw Key Asian Indicators: A Book of Charts

    America’s Enduring Leadership in Asia America has been engaged in Asia since a few decades after securing its independence. Its early interest is documented in the 1833 Treaty on Amity and Commerce between the U.S. and the Kingdom of Siam Thailand), and later in the market-opening 1854 Treaty of Kanagawa with Japan. The U.S. has, in fact, been a “resident…

  • Commentary posted June 27, 2012 by Walter Lohman Clear signals needed on F-16C/Ds

    Preserving and promoting the US’ legal obligation to provide for Taiwan’s self-defense needs is a tricky business. Every sale — particularly the biggest — must wind its way through a complex maze of US and Taiwanese party politics, bureaucracies, legislators and media. Often, the US and Taiwan are not aligned internally, let alone with one another. The People’s…

  • Issue Brief posted June 8, 2012 by Theodore R. Bromund, Ph.D., Dean Cheng Arms Trade Treaty Could Jeopardize U.S. Ability to Provide for Taiwan’s Defense

    The U.N. Arms Trade Treaty (ATT) will be negotiated in July in New York. One reason to be concerned about the ATT is the risks that it poses to America’s ability to sell arms to Taiwan. The U.S. is legally—as well as strategically and morally—obliged to provide for Taiwan’s defense. It should neither sign nor ratify a treaty that would increase the difficulty of meeting…

  • Commentary posted January 25, 2012 by Walter Lohman American Strategy, Values Coincide in Asia

    America's strategic interests in Asia go hand in hand with democratic values. Not by accident, all of our formal security allies in Asia - Australia, Japan, South Korea, the Philippines and Thailand - are democracies. And events are trending further in this direction. Taiwan recently conducted its fifth direct presidential election since 1996, further proof of…

  • WebMemo posted January 17, 2012 by Jessica Zuckerman, James Dean Bring Taiwan into the Visa Waiver Program

    On December 22, 2011, Taiwan was nominated by the U.S. Department of State for inclusion in the Visa Waiver Program. Since 1986, the Visa Waiver Program has facilitated travel and tourism in the United States for individuals from friendly member nations, and security measures added since the program’s inception have made the program essential. Yet despite these many…

  • Backgrounder posted December 6, 2011 by Dean Cheng, Bruce Klingner Defense Budget Cuts Will Devastate America’s Commitment to the Asia–Pacific

    Abstract: The failure of the Congressional Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction (“Super Committee”) to come to agreement on reducing the federal deficit raises the real prospect of a total of $1 trillion in additional cuts to the defense budget over the next decade. These cuts have been put forth with little consideration for their long-term impact:…

  • Play Movie Senator Lieberman Grades President Obama on His Foreign Policy Video Recorded on November 3, 2011 Senator Lieberman Grades President Obama on His Foreign Policy

    Senator Joe Lieberman (I-CT) visited Heritage to give the annual B.C. Lee lecture, focusing on the importance of American leadership in the Asia-Pacific region. After his speech, he sat down with us for a wide-ranging interview on free trade, Taiwan, the pitfalls of the Afghanistan withdrawal, and the implications of the Super Committee's decisions for our national…

  • Backgrounder posted October 14, 2011 by Dean Cheng Getting Serious About Taiwan’s Air Power Needs

    Abstract: Under the clear terms of the Taiwan Relations Act, the U.S. is obligated to make available the hardware and services necessary for Taiwan's defense. This obligation is a critical component of U.S. policy in the Western Pacific, as it ensures that, in the event of a cross-Strait conflict, Taiwan will not be overwhelmed by a technologically superior People’s…

  • Commentary posted September 19, 2011 by Edwin J. Feulner, Ph.D. Look What We’ve ‘Made in Taiwan’

    As I write this column, my plane is taking off from Taiwan's Taoyuan International Airport to bring me back home. It was a special visit to Taiwan - one that helped put many earlier visits into a larger perspective. My first visit to Taiwan occurred 40 years ago. The changes since then have been remarkable. When I first visited, U.S. foreign aid was still a mainstay of…

  • Commentary posted August 18, 2011 by James Jay Carafano, Ph.D. Taiwan Enters Terrible Twos Under Obama

    Former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld held a book event in Chicago recently.  In answering a question about China,  he assessed, "War in the Taiwan Straits could only happen as the result of a monumental diplomatic blunder.”  He is probably right.  The problem is, Obama’s Taiwan policy increases the probability of political miscalculation. Taiwan has now endured two…

  • Lecture posted June 28, 2011 by Franklin L. Lavin Consequential China: U.S.–China Relations in a Time of Transition

    Abstract: On April 20, 2011, long-time “China hand” Frank Lavin addressed an audience at The Heritage Foundation on the future of U.S.–China relations. How will the U.S. economic turmoil affect the Chinese economy? What is the impact of the “Jasmine spring”? Which effects will China’s leadership transition have on relations between the two countries? What is the…

  • WebMemo posted May 17, 2011 by Dean Cheng U.S. Must Focus Military Talks with China

    U.S.–China military-to-military relations have a very rocky history over the past two decades. Mutual suspicion, as well as fluctuations in the broader U.S.–China relationship, has resulted in periods of relatively good relations alternating with nearly frozen military contacts. This week’s visit by General Chen Bingde of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) marks the…

  • WebMemo posted February 28, 2011 by Walter Lohman Defrost the U.S.–Taiwan Relationship

    The U.S.–Taiwan relationship today is all but frozen, increasing the level of anxiety in Taiwan as it tries to cope with a rising China. One hears this anxiety in conversations with officials in Taipei and in the flurry of public exhortations recently offered by President Ma Ying-jeou concerning Taiwan’s defense needs.[1] Taiwan’s outreach to the mainland is predicated on…