OT-1963
September 5, 2019
Remarks by AIT Director W. Brent Christensen
at the Opening of AIT@40 exhibition in New Taipei City
Chairwoman Lin, Mayor Hou, distinguished guests: DaJia Hao!
It is an honor to open the AIT@40 exhibition here in New Taipei City today, especially at this beautiful historical museum near the riverside.
In 1979, the U.S. Congress passed the Taiwan Relations Act and established the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT). 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. The exhibition shows the breadth and depth of the engagement between the U.S. and Taiwan have shared since 1979.
September is AIT@40 Education Month, and the strong educational ties that exist between Taiwan and the United States are an excellent example of the strength of our relationship. More than 22,000 students from Taiwan study in the United States each year, and that number has increased for the last four years in a row. More and more students from the United States are also choosing to study in Taiwan, and AIT and Taiwan have recently launched a new initiative, the Talent Circulation Alliance, to promote even more academic and professional exchanges between the United States and Taiwan.
The transformation of Taiwan, and of this relationship over the past 40 years has been remarkable. As we celebrate this important anniversary, we are also looking forward and focusing on even more ways to strengthen and broaden the U.S.-Taiwan relationship over the next 40 years and beyond. Many of you know that AIT has recently moved into our new office space in Neihu. This new $255-million facility is an important symbol of our long-term commitment to this partnership. It is a modern complex built to serve as home base for AIT as we work to promote U.S.-Taiwan security cooperation; promote the U.S.-Taiwan economic and commercial relationship; promote Taiwan’s role in the global community; and promote people-to-people ties.
In closing, I would like to thank the New Taipei City Government for co-hosting this exhibition. I would also like to thank the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and National Sun Yat-sen University for their support of this project, as well as for our many ongoing collaborations. Thank you for joining us today. Please enjoy the exhibition
