Washington – House Foreign Affairs Chairman Michael McCaul is in Taipei for conferences with officers, together with Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen, simply hours after Tsai spoke with House Speaker Kevin McCarthy in California.
“We are confronting a generational threat from the Chinese Communist Party, and the Indo-Pacific theater is our first line of defense against their encroachment. That’s why now, more than ever, it’s critical the United States strengthen relationships with our allies and partners in the region,” mentioned McCaul, who’s touring with a bipartisan delegation of seven lawmakers.
The delegation can be set to satisfy with Taiwanese enterprise leaders and officers to debate methods to strengthen the U.S.-Taiwan relationship. Lawmakers are anticipated to satisfy with Tsai on Saturday.
US House Speaker McCarthy Praises Taiwan Leader as ‘Great Friend to America’
The assembly between Tsai and McCarthy, together with as many as 18 different U.S. lawmakers on Wednesday, drew criticism from China, which considers the island part of the nation.
“The U.S. colluded with Taiwan authorities and connived at attempts by separatists seeking ‘Taiwan independence’ to carry out political activities on U.S. soil, engage in official interaction between the United States and Taiwan, and elevate the substantive relations between the United States and Taiwan,” Mao Ning, a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson, mentioned Thursday.
“China will take resolute and measures to safeguard national sovereignty and territorial integrity,” she mentioned.
US Lawmakers Push Back Against Chinese Warnings on Meeting Taiwan’s President
According to its “One China” precept, China considers the problem of Taiwanese sovereignty an inside matter and holds that China has sovereignty over the mainland, Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan. Under the U.S. “One China” coverage, Washington acknowledges Beijing as the only authorized authorities of China. However, the U.S. doesn’t acknowledge Beijing’s sovereignty over Taiwan and has by no means agreed to chorus from assembly with Taiwanese leaders.
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries met with Tsai as she transited by way of New York final week. In a press release noting that the assembly didn’t deviate from the long-standing unofficial relationship between the U.S. and Taiwan, Jeffries mentioned, “We had a very productive conversation about the mutual security and economic interests between America and Taiwan. We also discussed our shared commitment to democracy and freedom.”
Last yr, then-Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi and a delegation of 5 House Democrats visited Taiwan for conferences with Taiwanese officers. The go to elevated tensions within the area as China launched army workout routines within the space round Taiwan and suspended or canceled some strains of army cooperation with the United States.
In addition to a three-day journey to Taiwan, McCaul and the delegation have additionally visited Japan and South Korea.