Lai Ching-te with Michael McCaul
On Monday, during the first congressional visit to the self-ruled Island since a new president took office, a senior US lawmaker restated Washington’s support for Taiwan against Chinese aggression.
While talking with President Lai Ching-te, Representative Michael McCaul, who heads the influential House Foreign Affairs Committee, stated that he and his colleagues stood in strong support of this beautiful island.
Three days after Lai was sworn in, Chinese warships and fighter jets ringed Taiwan in drills that Beijing said were a test of its capacity to capture the island.
China claims democratic Taiwan as part of its territory and has stated that it will never renounce the use of force to take the island under its control.
McCaul condemned the intimidating military exercises on Monday, saying they demonstrated China’s unwillingness to take Taiwan peacefully.
“All democracies must stand together against aggression and tyranny”, McCaul continued.
“Whether it’s Putin in Russia, the Ayatollah in Iran, or Chairman Xi next door to us in China, an unholy alliance is eroding peace around the world”, McCaul informed Lai.
McCaul went on to say, “Not since World War Two… have we seen such blatant violence and naked aggression”.
McCaul arrived in Taiwan on Sunday, joined by both Republican and Democratic lawmakers.
The United States moved diplomatic recognition from Taiwan to China in 1979, although it remains the island’s most important ally and provider of military weapons.
US President Joe Biden has stated that he does not support Taiwan’s independence but would support sending troops to protect the island. The United States’s official position on intervention is that of strategic ambiguity.
On Monday, McCaul affirmed that the US Congress on a bipartisan basis supports Taiwan.
“We are not here as Republicans or as Democrats, but as Americans”, McCaul added.
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