US House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi invited other top lawmakers to join her on a visit to Taiwan, a US representative told NBC News on Wednesday, in the first on-the-record confirmation of the speaker’s planned visit.
US Representative Michael McCaul said in an interview with the US news outlet that he and fellow Representative Gregory Meeks had been invited to join Pelosi on a visit to Taiwan next month.
McCaul, a Republican, is a ranking member of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs alongside Meeks, the Democratic chairman.
Photo: Bloomberg
Although he declined the offer due to a personal obligation, McCaul encouraged others to go.
“Any member that wants to go, should. It shows political deterrence” to Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平), McCaul said. “But [Pelosi] should also pay attention to the military if it’s going to cause a blowback and escalate things.”
US Representative Anna Eshoo, a Democrat close to Pelosi, also told NBC News on Wednesday that she had received an invitation, but had to decline.
Photo: EPA-EFE
The comments were the first on-the-record confirmation of plans first reported by the Financial Times on Monday last week.
Pelosi’s office and the White House have declined to confirm the trip.
Although no specific dates have been provided, Japan’s Kyodo News yesterday cited foreign affairs sources as saying the trip would take place early next month.
During the brief interview on Capitol Hill, McCaul also called on Washington to reconsider its policy of “strategic ambiguity” toward Taiwan.
“I think it’s gotten to the point where China is such a threat to Taiwan where we need to revisit that policy,” he said. “I don’t think it should be ambiguous anymore. I think China needs to understand that our policy is one to defend and not be ambiguous about it.”
On Wednesday, Premier Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) thanked Pelosi for her long-time support and friendship, and extended an invitation to “any friendly foreign guests” who want to visit.
The government would make careful arrangements for visitors with respect to their plans, he added.
In related news, a US aircraft carrier and its strike group have returned to the South China Sea after a port call in Singapore, deploying in the disputed region as tensions with China rise over a possible visit to Taiwan by Pelosi.
Officials with the US Navy’s 7th Fleet confirmed the deployment of the USS Ronald Reagan to the vital trade route, but did not comment on questions about tensions over the trip by Pelosi.
“USS Ronald Reagan and her strike group are under way, operating in the South China Sea following a successful port visit to Singapore,” US Commander Hayley Sims said in a statement.
Sims added that the Reagan “is continuing normal, scheduled operations as part of her routine patrol in support of a free and open Indo-Pacific.”
Asked for comment, the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday said the US was once again “flexing its muscles” in the South China Sea with the Reagan’s sailing.
“It is clear from this for everyone to see who is the biggest threat to the South China Sea and the Asian region’s peace and stability,” ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian (趙立堅) told a regular briefing.
A signaling system malfunction disrupted high-speed rail (HSR) services beginning at 8am today, with trains temporarily reduced to three northbound and three southbound trains per hour as authorities conduct inspections. The malfunction occurred on a section of track in Miaoli County during pre-operation checks early this morning, forcing northbound and southbound trains to use a single track, the HSR operator said. The regular schedule has been replaced with three hourly trains offering only nonreserved seating in each direction, stopping at every station, it said, adding that business class cars would still have reserved seating. Departures from terminal stations are scheduled at the top
Taiwan is still in the process of assessing the possibility of recruiting workers from Eswatini, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said yesterday, adding that its goal is to help Eswatini upgrade its vocational training centers. If there are plans to recruit workers from Eswatini, safeguarding national security, protecting public health and ensuring the employment rights of Taiwanese would be prerequisites, Department of West Asian and African Affairs Director-General Yen Chia-liang (顏嘉良) told a news conference. Key considerations would also include filling labor shortages in specific industries, and fostering bilateral professional and technical exchanges, he said. Yen was asked about the progress of labor
VERBOSE VESSELS: A CGA cutter and a China Coast Guard exchanged verbal barbs for more than a day in Taiwanese-controlled waters before the Chinese vessel left The Taiwanese and Chinese coast guards had a standoff near the strategically located Pratas Islands (Dongsha Islands, 東沙群島) in the north of the South China Sea, the Coast Guard Administration (CGA) said yesterday. The two sides engaged in intense radio exchanges over sovereignty claims during the 33-hour standoff. China Coast Guard vessel 3501 eventually left the restricted waters, 26.6 nautical miles (49.2km) west of the Pratas Islands, at 5pm yesterday, the CGA said. Lying approximately between southern Taiwan and Hong Kong, the Taiwan-controlled Pratas are seen by some security experts as vulnerable to Chinese attack due to their distance — more than
WARNING: China should stop engaging in actions that undermine regional peace and stability, as it would only build resentment among people across the Strait, the CGA said China has deployed more than 100 navy, coast guard and other vessels in waters from the Yellow Sea to the South China Sea and the western Pacific since US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) met in Beijing, National Security Council Secretary-General Joseph Wu (吳釗燮) said yesterday. “In this part of the world, #China is the one & only PROBLEM wrecking the #StatusQuo & threatening regional peace & stability,” Wu wrote on X. In a separate post, he said Beijing was coercing Taiwan’s maritime domain, calling it illegal and provocative, after the Coast Guard Administration (CGA) expelled a
RSS