The US would continue to assist Taiwan with its self-defense and wants to see peace across the Taiwan Strait without coercion or the threat of force, a visiting US senator told President William Lai (賴清德) yesterday.
Republican Senator Pete Ricketts in a meeting with Lai at the Presidential Office in Taipei said that although administrations change, bipartisan support for Taiwan in the US Congress has continued.
“The United States is committed to peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific. We want to see peace across the Taiwan Strait. We oppose any unilateral change in the status of Taiwan,” Ricketts said.
Photo: CNA
“We expect any differences between Taiwan and the mainland to be resolved peacefully without coercion or the threat of force,” he said. “To that end, the United States will continue to assist Taiwan in its self-defense. There is broad consensus in the US Congress to support Taiwan’s self-defense.”
Lai said that he looked forward to Taiwan and the US continuing to work together to maintain peace and stability in the region, and that Taiwan was committed to spending more on its defense.
A bipartisan group of US lawmakers are on their first trip to Taiwan under the new administration, aiming to show Taipei and Beijing that Washington’s support for Taiwan’s defense remains broad, despite the harsh words and tariffs from US President Donald Trump.
Ricketts is being accompanied by Republican Senator Ted Budd and Democratic Senator Chris Coons.
Many Asia-Pacific nations are eschewing the retaliatory criticism and tariffs of some of the US’ European allies after Trump earlier this month slapped broad tariffs on many countries around the world, including 32 percent for Taiwan.
Despite that hit, conversations in Taiwan this week were “optimistic and forward-looking,” Coons said, adding that he was “optimistic that we’re going to see a strong next chapter in US-Taiwan relations.”
That includes assurances from Taiwanese that they are working fast to strike new trade and investment deals that suit the Trump administration.
Learning from Ukraine’s defense against Russia and criticism from Trump, Taiwan also said it is investing fast to make the military stronger, nimbler and less dependent on the US, as the nation’s strongest deterrent against China, the US lawmakers said.
That includes seeking investment with the US on drone warfare, learning from Ukraine using fleet fighting forces with portable Stingers, the lawmakers said.
The senators made the remarks ahead of talks yesterday with Lai, Minister of National Defense Wellington Koo (顧立雄) and National Security Council Secretary-General Joseph Wu (吳釗燮).
Ricketts said Taiwanese leaders had already reached out to US Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick for negotiations, moving quickly in the 90-day pause that Trump announced before the US starts enforcing the new tariffs.
Regarding China, Coons said: “Of course, there is the possibility that [Chinese President] Xi Jinping [習近平] would decide that this is the right time for the Chinese Communist Party to take aggressive action.”
“I think it’s exactly the wrong thing for them to do,” Coons said. “I think they would find a forceful and united response.”
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