Lawmakers are to visit the US to express their gratitude for US President Donald Trump’s administration’s decision to approve a US$1.42 billion arms package to Taiwan.
The delegation of lawmakers on the legislature’s Foreign and National Defense Committee is to visit US House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Ed Royce and US Senate Committee on Armed Services Chairman John McCain, as well as other representatives and senators from California, Arizona and Hawaii, legislators said.
In addition, the delegation is to tour the US Pacific Command’s (USPACOM) headquarters in Hawaii and the Luke Air Force Base in Arizona, they said.
As well as providing an opportunity for the lawmakers to visit the nation’s service members training in the US, the trip is also aimed at facilitating Taiwan-US military exchanges and deepening the legislature’s diplomatic outreach, Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Wang Ding-yu (王定宇) said on Sunday.
The lawmakers are to express their gratitude to US Congress members and officials in response to the US’ approval for the seven-item arms package, he said.
Acquiring AGM-88 High-speed Anti-Radiation Missiles and AGM-154 Joint Standoff Weapons would be a major boost to Taiwan’s defensive capabilities, he said, adding that they allow the nation’s armed forces to carry war to the enemy if necessary.
The lawmakers urged the US to implement the aspects of the US National Defense Authorization Act that are pertinent to Taiwan, including authorizing visits between the minister of national defense and the minister of foreign affairs and their counterparts in the US, he said.
“A Taiwan capable of self-defense is a stabilizing factor for peace in East Asia and in the national interests of the US. We plan to inform the US that Taiwan is determined to procure advanced weapons,” Wang said.
The trip is symbolic of the deepening Taiwan-US relationship, as the Trump administration has clearly showed its intent to prevent Taiwan from falling under China’s influence, Wang said.
The lawmakers are to tour Luke Air Base to visit Taiwanese pilots being trained at its facilities and tour USPACOM’s facilities and Camp H.M. Smith outside Honolulu to inspect living conditions in its barracks, which Taiwan’s military might use as a model, he said.
The lawmakers are to lobby elected US officials to allow the sale of Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II jets and exchange opinions on the role the US Air Force could play in defending Taiwan’s airspace, DPP Legislator Chuang Ruei-hsiung (莊瑞雄) said.
That the US had arranged for lawmakers to see USPACOM’s facilities shows that the US is determined to defend peace in the Pacific region and the relationship between the two nations has become stronger, Chuang said.
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