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A bipartisan delegation of U.S. lawmakers touched down in Taiwan for an unannounced visit on Thursday.
The group is the most recent batch of officers to flout China’s calls for that the U.S. reduce ties with the self-governed island. Rep. Mike Gallagher, R-Wis., a significant critic of China, led the delegation, which included 4 different members of Congress.
“The United States, Democrats and Republicans, stands with Taiwan, for your freedom and for ours,” Gallagher mentioned at a press convention in the course of the visit. “For as Taiwan goes, so goes the world.”
The group met with Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-Wen, who advised them she hoped to see additional interplay between U.S. and Taiwan officers.
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“The Taiwan of today plays a crucial role in upholding global peace and democracy,” she mentioned. “We will continue to advance our international partnerships and engage with the world.”
The different members of the delegation are Reps. Raja Krishnamoorthi, D-Ill.; John Moolenaar, R-Mich.; Dusty Johnson, R-S.D.; and Seth Moulton, D-Mass.
All these on the journey are members of the House Committee on Competition with China, which Gallagher chairs. The lawmakers’ places of work didn’t instantly reply to requests for remark from Fox News Digital.
China has lengthy claimed possession over Taiwan, and Chinese President Xi Jinping’s regime has threatened to unite the island with the mainland by pressure.
Previous visits by U.S. lawmakers to Taiwan had been seen as validation of the island’s independence. China was outraged in August 2022 when then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi traveled to Taiwan. Tsai adopted up the visit with a visit to the U.S. final yr.
The Chinese navy responded to each incidents with weeks of live-fire drills surrounding Taiwan in an obvious simulation of an invasion.
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Gallagher’s group additionally met with Taiwanese Vice President Lai Ching-te. It was the primary assembly between him and U.S. lawmakers since he received the island’s presidential election in January.
Lai will succeed Tsai in May.
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