American Citizens for Taiwan and Taiwan Watch Announce Merger

SEATTLE, Washington and HOUSTON, Texas— The Board of Directors of American Citizens for Taiwan, a U.S. based non-profit promoting awareness of the importance of Taiwan to Americans; and Taiwan Watch, an organization building a tool and website to reference and monitor Taiwan-related legislation in the U.S. Congress, are pleased to announce a merger. After conducting a thorough assessment over the last several months, both organizations believe the merged organization will have a greater impact on promoting stronger U.S. Taiwan relations and educating Americans about the importance of our relationship with Taiwan.

經過長達幾個月的討論與評估，來自西雅圖的美台會（American Citizens for Taiwan），和來自休士頓的美國國會台灣觀測站(Taiwan Watch)，決定在2018年2月28日當天，宣布合併且攜手合作。美台會是美國非營利組織，致力於宣導台灣對美國的重要性，而美國國會台灣觀測站則是建置網站和工具，觀測美國國會中的台灣相關法案。我們相信，這樣的合併能為更堅實的台美關係帶來強而有力的影響，並且讓美國人知道台美關係的重要性。

The combined organization will operate under the name American Citizens for Taiwan (ACT). Programs focused on Congress and promoting Taiwan-related legislation will combine to increase the information provided about Taiwan related legislation. The main ACT site will continue to focus on helping Americans understand the importance of Taiwan to the United States, and the online tool for grassroots support of bills in the U.S. Congress. Taiwan Watch will be rebranded as U.S. Taiwan Watch (USTW), to promote U.S. Taiwan relations to Taiwanese, and provide information about U.S. government bills and policy regarding Taiwan.

結合後的組織會維持原有的「美台會」全名（American Citizens for Taiwan）；而關注國會事務以及推廣台灣相關法案的各項計畫，將予以整合以提供更多更多台灣相關法案的資訊。美台會的主要網站會繼續著重在幫助美國人了解台灣對美國的重要性，以及提供線上工具傳達基層對於國會法案的支持。「美國國會台灣觀測站」的英文將更名為「U.S. Taiwan Watch, USTW」，旨在促進台美關係，並提供美國台灣相關法案以及政策等資訊。

“American Citizens for Taiwan is extremely excited to have U.S. Taiwan Watch join our team. USTW work, along with their high-quality volunteer staff, will create more possibilities for our work to promote the passage of legislation in Congress that continues to strengthen our important relationship with Taiwan,” said Brock Freeman, Director of American Citizens for Taiwan. “The alignment of our missions and desire to serve our two democracies, in the U.S. and Taiwan, made this decision incredibly easy.”

「美台會真的很高興能有美國國會台灣觀測站團隊的加入，他們的成就和優秀的志工團隊將締造更多可能性，推動那些在國會中能持續強化台美關係的法案。」美台會執行長林宇翔（Brock Freeman）說：「為美國和台灣這兩個民主國家奮鬥的使命之一致，讓我們很快就下了決定。」

“Throughout our discussions with American Citizens for Taiwan, we were gratified to learn that the purpose of both organizations was highly complementary,” said Jerry Hsu, Co-Founder of U.S. Taiwan Watch. “We clearly believe that the combined organization offers more resources to pursue our mission.”

「在和美台會成員討論的過程中，我們很開心地發現兩個組織的宗旨其實是高度互補的，」美國國會台灣觀測站共同創辦人許亞傑（Jerry Hsu）表示：「我們確信，兩個組織合併之後能提供更多資源來達成我們的使命。」

U.S. Taiwan Watch is focused on the development of a Congressional Guide to understand where U.S. Congressional incumbents and candidates stand vis-à-vis Taiwan related legislation and U.S. Taiwan relations. USTW was born in July 2017 at the forth hackathon sponsored by g0v, a renowned civil-tech online community in Taiwan.

美國國會台灣觀測站致力於開發美國國會指南，讓大家了解國會現任議員和議員參選人對於台灣相關法案和台美關係的態度與看法。美國國會台灣觀測站這個企劃誕生於知名台灣公民科技線上社群－g0v在美國所舉辦的第四次黑客松。

American Citizen for Taiwan (ACT) was founded in 2009 by Americans who understand that Taiwan’s democracy, and our relationship with Taiwan, is important to United States’ own democracy, security, and economy. ACT works to educate Americans on Taiwan’s importance to the U.S. and encourage voters to use our online tool to tell their members of Congress to support Taiwan related legislation in the U.S. Congress.

美台會是由一群美國人於2009年成立，他們知道台灣的民主化以及台美關係對於美國民主、國防安全、以及經濟的重要性。美台會致力於讓美國人知道台灣對美國的重要性，也鼓勵選民利用線上工具告訴選區議員，要支持美國國會中的台灣相關法案。