The Republican Study Committee (RSC) delegation recognizes that the security threats that Taiwan faces are real and firmly believes in the principle of “maintaining peace through strength,” US Representative Zachary Nunn said at a meeting with President William Lai (賴清德) at the Presidential Office in Taipei yesterday.
Taiwan’s democratic system is a deliberate choice that warrants sustained international support, said Nunn, chair of the RSC’s National Security Task Force and head of the delegation.
Nunn described the delegation’s visit as both symbolic and functional: reaffirming US backing while enabling lawmakers to better assess Taiwan’s evolving security challenges.
Photo courtesy of the Presidential Office
He reiterated that the “peace through strength” principle could be extended beyond military considerations to include economic policy.
Deepening trade and investment ties constitutes not only sound economic practice, but is also a strategic complement to security cooperation, he said.
Lai said that China’s intensified military exercises and “gray zone” operations around Taiwan have seriously undermined regional peace and stability.
He framed Taiwan’s response as a strategic lesson: deterrence depends on strength, and strength, in turn, is rooted in long-term resilience.
Safeguarding national security is a core government obligation, and concrete policy measures, such as increasing defense spending to as much as 5 percent of GDP by 2030, alongside a proposed eight-year, US$40 billion special act for strengthening economic, social and national security resilience (因應國際情勢強化經濟社會及民生國安韌性特別條例), highlight the government’s commitment to regional stability, Lai said.
On bilateral cooperation, Lai cited provisions in the US National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2026 on US-Taiwan joint research and development, particularly in drone and counterdrone technologies, demonstrating how Taiwan-US relations are shifting toward more integrated defense cooperation, evolving beyond a traditional arms-sales framework.
In other news, US Senator Jim Banks, a Republican from Indiana, has arrived in Taiwan for a three-day visit, during which he is to engage in high-level meetings with Lai and other senior officials to discuss US-Taiwan relations, regional security, trade and investment, according to separate statements issued by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the American Institute in Taiwan.
The ongoing trip to Taiwan is his first visit to the Asia-Pacific region since assuming his Senate post early last year, the ministry added.
Additional reporting by CNA
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