US Representative Nancy Pelosi yesterday in a phone call with President William Lai (賴清德) congratulated the president on his electoral victory earlier this year and expressed support for Taiwan.
Lai landed in Hawaii on Saturday for a two-day stopover on the way to Taiwan’s diplomatic allies in the Pacific, his first official overseas trip since assuming office in May.
While traveling yesterday, Lai spoke to several US politicians in the morning, Presidential Office spokesperson Karen Kuo (郭雅慧) said.
Photo courtesy of the Presidential Office
While not all of them can be named, they all expressed unanimous, bipartisan support for Taiwan, she said.
Kuo did confirm that one of the conversations was with Pelosi, who congratulated Lai on his electoral victory and wished him well on his visit through the Pacific in a 20-minute telephone call, Kuo said.
Although Kuo said that not all details of the conversations would be made public, she did relay Pelosi’s praise of Taiwan’s commitment to freedom and democratic values, its economic success story, and Taiwan’s importance to regional and global security.
Lai and Pelosi spoke about double taxation between the US and Taiwan, promising that she would work on passing legislation to fix the issue, Kuo said.
Pelosi also mentioned that she looked forward to engaging with Lai alongside her colleagues in the US Congress, Kuo added.
Pelosi expressed her support for Taiwan’s participation in international organizations such as the WHO, Kuo said.
Taiwan’s strategic importance came up during the conversation, especially regarding the semiconductor supply chain, artificial intelligence and the threat posed by China’s military, she said.
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