More than two dozen Republican US senators on Tuesday voiced their support for US House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan, saying that it was consistent with the US’ “one China” policy.
“We support Speaker of the House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi’s trip to Taiwan,” 26 Republican senators said in a joint statement. “For decades, members of the United States Congress, including previous speakers of the House, have traveled to Taiwan.”
Amid strong opposition from China, Pelosi arrived in Taiwan on Tuesday night from Malaysia on the third stop of her tour of Asia, which began on Sunday.
Photo: EDDIE SHIH, AFP
Pelosi is the first sitting US House speaker to visit Taiwan since 1997, when Newt Gingrich traveled to Taipei and met with then-president Lee Teng-hui (李登輝).
“This travel is consistent with the United States’ one China policy to which we are committed,” the senators said. “We are also committed now, more than ever, to all elements of the Taiwan Relations Act.”
The joint statement was issued by US senators Todd Young, Dan Sullivan and 24 others, including US Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, Jim Risch — the ranking member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee — and Jim Inhofe, the top Republican on the Senate Armed Services Committee.
Photo: Al Drago
However, the Taiwan visit was not unanimously supported in Washington.
US President Joe Biden on July 21 said that “the [US] military thinks it’s not a good idea right now.”
Pelosi defended her visit in a letter to the editor in the Washington Post, saying that the visit showed the US’ commitment to democracy.
“The Taiwan Relations Act set out America’s commitment to a democratic Taiwan, providing the framework for an economic and diplomatic relationship that would quickly flourish into a key partnership,” Pelosi said. “It fostered a deep friendship rooted in shared interests and values: self-determination and self-government, democracy and freedom, human dignity and human rights.”
Pelosi described her visit as that of a US congressional delegation that did not contradict Washington’s “one China” policy.
US National Security Council spokesman John Kirby on Tuesday said that Pelosi has the right to visit Taiwan, adding: “There’s no reason for China to take what is perfectly legitimate and consistent travel by the speaker of the House and turn it into some pretext for amping up the tensions, or creating some sort of crisis or conflict.”
The Chinese response thus far has been “unfortunately right in line with what we had anticipated,” he said, adding that Washington expects China to be preparing to “react over a longer-term horizon.”
“The United States will not seek and does not want a crisis. We are prepared to manage what Beijing chooses to do. At the same time, we will not engage in saber rattling. We will continue to support Taiwan, defend a free and open Indo-Pacific, and seek to maintain communication with Beijing,” he said.
Beyond the military moves, Kirby said China could use "economic coercion" against Taiwan without going into detail.
In other developments, the US Senate Committee on Foreign Relations was today to begin deliberations on a draft Taiwan policy act, which has provisions to give Taipei about US$4.5 billion in security assistance over the next four years.
The bipartisan bill drafted by US senators Robert Menendez and Lindsey Graham additionally stipulates that the US should designate Taiwan as “a major non-NATO ally.”
Further, the bill stipulates that Washington should make preparations for signing a free-trade agreement with Taiwan, among other measures that facilitate “historical, political, economic, cultural and defense ties.”
Additional reporting by Reuters
ENDEAVOR MANTA: The ship is programmed to automatically return to its designated home port and would self-destruct if seized by another party The Endeavor Manta, Taiwan’s first military-specification uncrewed surface vehicle (USV) tailor-made to operate in the Taiwan Strait in a bid to bolster the nation’s asymmetric combat capabilities made its first appearance at Kaohsiung’s Singda Harbor yesterday. Taking inspiration from Ukraine’s navy, which is using USVs to force Russia’s Black Sea fleet to take shelter within its own ports, CSBC Taiwan (台灣國際造船) established a research and development unit on USVs last year, CSBC chairman Huang Cheng-hung (黃正弘) said. With the exception of the satellite guidance system and the outboard motors — which were purchased from foreign companies that were not affiliated with Chinese-funded
‘CROWN JEWEL’: Washington ‘can delay and deter’ Chinese President Xi Jinping’s plans for Taiwan, but it is ‘a very delicate situation there,’ the secretary of state said US President Donald Trump is opposed to any change to Taiwan’s “status quo” by force or extortion and would maintain that policy, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio told the Hugh Hewitt Show host on Wednesday. The US’ policy is to maintain Taiwan’s “status quo” and to oppose any changes in the situation by force or extortion, Rubio said. Hewitt asked Rubio about the significance of Trump earlier this month speaking with Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (台積電) chairman C.C. Wei (魏哲家) at the White House, a meeting that Hewitt described as a “big deal.” Asked whether the meeting was an indication of the
PERMIT REVOKED: The influencer at a news conference said the National Immigration Agency was infringing on human rights and persecuting Chinese spouses Chinese influencer “Yaya in Taiwan” (亞亞在台灣) yesterday evening voluntarily left Taiwan, despite saying yesterday morning that she had “no intention” of leaving after her residence permit was revoked over her comments on Taiwan being “unified” with China by military force. The Ministry of the Interior yesterday had said that it could forcibly deport the influencer at midnight, but was considering taking a more flexible approach and beginning procedures this morning. The influencer, whose given name is Liu Zhenya (劉振亞), departed on a 8:45pm flight from Taipei International Airport (Songshan airport) to Fuzhou, China. Liu held a news conference at the airport at 7pm,
KAOHSIUNG CEREMONY: The contract chipmaker is planning to build 5 fabs in the southern city to gradually expand its 2-nanometer chip capacity Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the world’s biggest contract chipmaker, yesterday confirmed that it plans to hold a ceremony on March 31 to unveil a capacity expansion plan for its most advanced 2-nanometer chips in Kaohsiung, demonstrating its commitment to further investment at home. The ceremony is to be hosted by TSMC cochief operating officer Y.P. Chyn (秦永沛). It did not disclose whether Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) and high-ranking government officials would attend the ceremony. More details are to be released next week, it said. The chipmaker’s latest move came after its announcement earlier this month of an additional US$100 billion
RSS