March 21, 2019
AIT Official Text #: OT-1911
Remarks by AIT Director Brent Christensen
Exhibition Opening in Pingtung – Strong Foundation, Bright Future: AIT@40
U.S.-Taiwan Relations Since 1979
March 21, 2019
Magistrate Pan, Chairperson Lin, Vice President Huang, Director Wu, distinguished guests: good morning.
I am very pleased to be with you today to celebrate the AIT@40 exhibition here in Pingtung. I would like to extend special thanks to the Pingtung Department of Cultural Affairs for helping us to have this exhibition here at the Pingtung Victory Star Village. I would also like to thank National Sun Yat-sen University and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for their support for this event, as well as for our many ongoing collaborations.
In this exhibition, AIT has brought together documents, artifacts, interviews, hundreds of photos, and even augmented and virtual reality features to tell the story of AIT’s role in forging U.S.-Taiwan relations over the past 40 years. It shows the breadth and depth of the exchanges and engagement that the United States and Taiwan have shared since AIT was established by the Taiwan Relations Act in 1979.
The U.S.-Taiwan relationship has a remarkable history. We have come a long way together over these past four decades as Taiwan developed into both a hi-tech economic powerhouse and a highly successfully liberal democracy. As a result, we have come to share so many values, including respect for the rule of law, a commitment to free and fair trade, and a support for civil liberties at home and around the world. In fact, our common interests and values are so broad, we are focusing each month of this anniversary year on a different aspect of U.S.-Taiwan collaboration.
As we celebrate the achievements of the past 40 years, we will be just as focused on how we can strengthen and broaden the relationship over the next 40 years and beyond — to build upon this strong foundation a bright future.
We will soon be moving into our new $250-million office complex in Neihu, which will be both AIT’s new and far more capable base of operations and an important symbol of our commitment to this partnership. I would be happy to welcome our hosts here to visit us there.
Thank you once again to Magistrate Pan, our MOFA colleagues, National Sun Yat-sen University, and to all of you for coming today to this great event. AIT looks forward to working with you to further strengthen the many U.S.-Taiwan connections that have made this such a positive relationship for the United States, for Taiwan, and for the world. Thank you.
