O Congress also approved $400 million (370 billion euros) on Saturday to combat the Chinese government’s influence in the region, as part of its Defense Capacity Building Act.
The delegation, which is led by Republican Jack Bergman, head of the US House of Representatives Intelligence and Special Operations Subcommittee, and also includes Democratic congressmen Donald Norcross and Jimmy Panetta, met today with the president-elect and current vice-president. Taiwanese President William Lai to discuss bilateral relations and regional security.
In a statement, the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT, the “de facto” US embassy on the island) said that the delegation will remain in Taiwan until Friday, as part of a broader visit to the region.
During his meeting with congressmen, Lai expressed his gratitude to the US Administration and Congress for taking “concrete actions” in favor of Taiwan, also appreciating the US$300 million military aid recently approved by the Joe Biden Administration for this year.
Bergman stressed that Washington and Taipei are working together to “counter China’s increasingly aggressive actions in the region” and considered Taiwan a “fundamental partner” of the United States in the Indo-Pacific.
The congressman also mentioned that the delegation will meet with “US people” in Taiwan, although he did not elaborate on this issue.
Earlier, lawmakers met with Taiwan’s current leader, Tsai Ing-wen, who urged visitors to resolve the issue of double taxation between the US and Taiwan as quickly as possible, with the aim of “promoting investment in both senses and closer industrial cooperation”.
The congressmen’s visit comes just two weeks before the 45th anniversary of the Taiwan Relations Act, a US law that defined the legal framework for relations between Washington and Taipei after the recognition of the People’s Republic of China in 1979.
The island has been visited by several US politicians and former officials in recent months, including congressmen Ami Bera and Mario Diaz-Balart – leaders of the Taiwan caucus in the US House of Representatives -, former National Security Advisor Stephen Hadley (2005 -2009) and former Assistant Secretary of State James Steinberg (2009-2011).
Visits by US representatives to Taiwan have been constant over the past two years and continued even after the crisis between Beijing and Washington, triggered by the trip to Taipei by the then Speaker of the House of Representatives, Nancy Pelosi, in August 2022, which infuriated the China.
Taiwan – where the Chinese nationalist army retreated after its defeat at the hands of communist troops in the civil war – has been governed autonomously since 1949, although China claims sovereignty over the island, which it considers a province of its own for whose “reunification” did not rule out the use of force.
The United States, like most nations, does not recognize Taiwan as a country. However, they are obliged by US law to ensure that the island can defend itself and consider all threats to Taiwan as a matter of “grave concern”.
Read Also: China blames Taiwan government’s “separatism” for lack of communication
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Tags: Congressional Delegation Pledges Maintain Support Taiwan
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