Six US lawmakers have sent a joint letter to US Vice President Kamala Harris, urging her to meet with Vice President William Lai (賴清德) during his stopovers in the US on the way to and from Paraguay next month.
Lai is to lead a delegation to attend the inauguration of Paraguayan president-elect Santiago Pena on Aug. 15.
While US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said that Lai is expected to “transit the United States on both the incoming and outgoing legs” of the trip, neither government has disclosed Lai’s itinerary in the US.
Photo: EPA-EFE
US Representative Tom Tiffany shared the letter, which was also signed by his Republican colleagues Andrew Ogles, Byron Donalds, Buddy Carter, Scott Perry and Scott DesJarlais, on the messaging platform X on Wednesday.
“We hope you will consider meeting personally with him during this stopover,” the letter said.
The US Congress passed the Taiwan Travel Act in 2018, which then-US senator Harris supported, to encourage high-level meetings between senior US officials and their Taiwanese counterparts, it said.
“Mr. Lai’s transit here in August will provide you with a key opportunity to make use of this law — and do as vice president what you voted for as a lawmaker,” it added.
The letter condemned China for its “reckless efforts to provoke a conflict in the Taiwan Strait” and its continual use of dollar diplomacy to restrict Taiwan’s international space, calling it “unacceptable.”
“Meeting with Vice President Lai would underscore the importance America affixes to the US-Taiwan friendship and make it clear that Beijing’s meddling in American foreign policy is unwelcome,” the letter said.
“It would also help Taiwan cement its remaining diplomatic partnerships and demonstrate that the [President Joe] Biden administration will not cower in the face of increasing Chinese belligerence and bullying,” it added.
In Taipei, Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Jeff Liu (劉永健) said the government is thankful for US legislators across party lines, because they have long supported Taiwan.
Taiwan and the US are arranging the itinerary for Lai’s stopovers in the US and will make an announcement after it has been finalized, he said.
After Taiwan announced Lai’s trip, the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs said it had lodged a formal protest with Washington over “any visit by Taiwan separatists” and expressed its opposition to the US “indulging and supporting ... separatist activities.”
Blinken told reporters that “this is very routine, given the distances traveled, to have a transit point. And it is fully consistent with common practice.”
“There is no reason for the PRC [People’s Republic of China] to use this transit as a pretext for provocative action,” he added.
LONG FLIGHT: The jets would be flown by US pilots, with Taiwanese copilots in the two-seat F-16D variant to help familiarize them with the aircraft, the source said The US is expected to fly 10 Lockheed Martin F-16C/D Block 70/72 jets to Taiwan over the coming months to fulfill a long-awaited order of 66 aircraft, a defense official said yesterday. Word that the first batch of the jets would be delivered soon was welcome news to Taiwan, which has become concerned about delays in the delivery of US arms amid rising military tensions with China. Speaking on condition of anonymity, the official said the initial tranche of the nation’s F-16s are rolling off assembly lines in the US and would be flown under their own power to Taiwan by way
OBJECTS AT SEA: Satellites with synthetic-aperture radar could aid in the detection of small Chinese boats attempting to illegally enter Taiwan, the space agency head said Taiwan aims to send the nation’s first low Earth orbit (LEO) satellite into space in 2027, while the first Formosat-8 and Formosat-9 spacecraft are to be launched in October and 2028 respectively, the National Science and Technology Council said yesterday. The council laid out its space development plan in a report reviewed by members of the legislature’s Education and Culture Committee. Six LEO satellites would be produced in the initial phase, with the first one, the B5G-1A, scheduled to be launched in 2027, the council said in the report. Regarding the second satellite, the B5G-1B, the government plans to work with private contractors
MISSION: The Indo-Pacific region is ‘the priority theater,’ where the task of deterrence extends across the entire region, including Taiwan, the US Pacific Fleet commander said The US Navy’s “mission of deterrence” in the Indo-Pacific theater applies to Taiwan, Pacific Fleet Commander Admiral Stephen Koehler told the South China Sea Conference on Tuesday. The conference, organized by the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), is an international platform for senior officials and experts from countries with security interests in the region. “The Pacific Fleet’s mission is to deter aggression across the Western Pacific, together with our allies and partners, and to prevail in combat if necessary, Koehler said in the event’s keynote speech. “That mission of deterrence applies regionwide — including the South China Sea and Taiwan,” he
‘NARWHAL’: The indigenous submarine completed its harbor acceptance test recently and is now under heavy guard as it undergoes tests in open waters, a source said The Hai Kun (海鯤), the nation’s first indigenous defense submarine, yesterday began sea trials, sailing out of the Port of Kaohsiung, a military source said. Also known as the “Narwhal,” the vessel departed from CSBC Corp, Taiwan’s (台灣國際造船) shipyard at about 8am, where it had been docked. More than 10 technicians and military personnel were on deck, with several others standing atop the sail. After recently completing its harbor acceptance test, the vessel has started a series of sea-based trials, including tests of its propulsion and navigational systems, while partially surfaced, the source said. The Hai Kun underwent tests in the port from