[Epoch Times July 3, 2025](Epoch Times reporter Lin Chengyi reported from Taipei, Taiwan) The American Association in Taiwan held a “249th Anniversary Celebration Reception Party for the 249th Anniversary of the Independence Day” on the 2nd, with the theme of “baseball”. Director Gu Liyan pointed out that the United States and Taiwan are working together with their democratic teammates, ready to seize every opportunity to hit a home run; Vice President Xiao Meiqin cleverly used the metaphor of “baseball”, “Taiwan-US relations are like baseball games. Facing fastball, both sides are still standing in the strike zone, and firmly believe that Taiwan-US is a champion team.”
July 4 is the American Independence Day, AIT held a celebration reception, and Xiao Meiqin was invited to deliver a speech. Foreign Minister Lin Jialong, Defense Minister Gu Lixiong, Legislative Yuan President Han Kuo-yu, National Security Council Secretary-General Wu Zhaoxie, Kuomintang Chairman Zhu Lilun and many legislators attended. At the celebration, Xiao Meiqin and Gu Liyan exchanged jerseys with each other. Han Kuo-yu and Legislative Yuan Vice President Jiang Qichen also specially presented a “torpedo stick” to Gu Liyan, with the bat saying “A home run in Taiwan-US relations.”
In his speech, Gu Liyan pointed out that the theme of “baseball” symbolizes the common love between the United States and Taiwan for “baseball”. The shared cultural connection reflects that both sides attach importance to fair competition and firmly believe that teamwork can lead to success. He stressed that “when the United States wins, Taiwan wins.” Last year’s final of the World Baseball Top 12 just confirmed that the United States is happy to compete with Taiwan and carry out substantive cooperation.
“Taiwan-US cooperation covers a variety of areas, including Taiwan’s security, resilience and connection,” said Gu Liyan.
In terms of security, he quoted US Secretary of State Marco Rubio as saying that the United States has a long-standing position on Taiwan, which is something the United States will not give up, and it also opposes any one-sided means, including coercion, coercion, and coercion, attempts to change the current situation.
Gu Liyan explained that the United States continues to focus on maintaining sufficient deterrence to resist any attempt to change Taiwan’s social, economic or political status by coercion, and will also strengthen its commitment to Taiwan’s security in accordance with the Taiwan Relations Act and enhance Taiwan’s defense capabilities. As Taiwan continues to work to increase defense spending this year to more than 3% GDP, the United States looks forward to seeing more investments in traditional military deterrence and social resilience in the future.
“Just just as Taiwan’s defense spending has strong cross-party support in the U.S. Congress, I firmly believe that Taiwan’s political parties will also invest necessary resources to maintain peace,” he said.
In terms of resilience, Gu Liyan emphasized that the resilience shown by Taiwan in the face of disaster also provided assistance to Turkey and Japan after the strong earthquake. He also affirmed that the “Global Cooperation and Training Architecture” (GCTF) has become a multilateral platform across fields, bringing together a lot of professional knowledge to respond to challenges. Whether it is to enhance Taiwan’s energy resilience, train front-line response personnel, and fight against investment and security threats, the United States and its major partners are ready to provide assistance at any time.
In the linkage, he said that the US and Taiwan economy has good conditions to help each other flourish, especially in emerging key technologies, where Taiwan and the United States play a leading role in the AI field and help to gain a dominance in the drone industry. He stressed that innovative capabilities and secure supply chains are the key to success.
Gu Liyan bluntly stated that whether it is defining various technologies in the 21st century, ensuring the resilience of supply chains and communities, or maintaining peace in the Indo-Pacific region, the United States and Taiwan are working hand in hand with their democratic teammates, ready to seize every opportunity and shine and hit a home run.
Xiao Meiqin delivered a speech saying that July 4 is not only the anniversary of the United States’ independence, but also symbolizes the long-standing friendship between Taiwan and the United States. Although the two countries are separated from the ocean, they are closely linked by their common values. In an era of rapid global geopolitical changes, Taiwan-US relations continue to deepen and grow steadily. As Gu Liyan said, Taiwan-US cooperation in science and technology, trade, education, health and security.
Xiao Meiqin mentioned that the trade relations between the two countries are deep and complementary, from semiconductors to high-end manufacturing, digital services to clean energy technology. Taiwan promotes the development and profit of American companies with its advantages such as manufacturing, advanced technology and industrial flexibility. They believe that a strong Taiwan will be more capable of contributing to global prosperity and can also help the United States achieve its goal of reindustrialization and technological leadership.
Xiao Meiqin also responded to the theme of “baseball”. She compared Taiwan-US relations with “baseball” metaphor. “Taiwan-US relations are like a baseball game, striving to establish a stable partnership in one inning and one inning. Even in the face of fastball, curve ball or slide ball, Taiwan-US still firmly stands on the strike zone and become a champion team together.” ◇
Editor-in-charge: Tang Yin
