A bipartisan group of US lawmakers has praised Taiwan for its determination to uphold democracy, Vice President William Lai (賴清德) said on Tuesday during a stopover in Los Angeles en route to Honduran president-elect Xiomara Castro’s inauguration.
Several lawmakers at an online meeting with 17 members of the US Congress earlier that day praised Taiwan for sticking to democracy, Lai told the Taiwanese community in Los Angeles via a videoconference.
They hailed the nation for not bowing to pressure from China, despite Beijing sending warplanes into Taiwan’s air defense identification zone and conducting disinformation campaigns, Lai said.
Photo: CNA
Representative to the US Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴), who also attended the meeting with lawmakers, said that Lai spoke to several groups of them during about 10 hours of videoconferencing.
“Supporting Taiwan has become a common language in the US Congress,” Hsiao said, adding that a member of the US House of Representatives told Lai that the House rarely reaches a cross-party consensus such as that on supporting Taiwan.
In addition to welcoming Lai, US representatives from California, Arizona and Utah told him about their administrative achievements in support of Taiwan, Hsiao said.
They expressed concerns on issues such as cross-strait security, Taiwan’s national defense, bilateral trade and economic ties between Taiwan and the US, global supply chains, supporting the nation in its efforts to participate in international organizations, and Taiwan-US cooperation on technology development, Hsiao said.
Lai told the lawmakers that President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) attaches great importance to Taiwan-US relations, Hsiao said.
The vice president highlighted the shared values and common interest between the US and Taiwan, particularly in ensuring security, stability and economic development in the Indo-Pacific region, she added.
US Senator Edward Markey, who chairs the US Senate Subcommittee on East Asia, the Pacific and International Cybersecurity Policy, and US Representative Mark Takano, who chairs the House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs, were among the lawmakers present during the online meeting, Hsiao said.
Others in attendance were US Representative John Curtis, who served as a missionary in Taiwan 40 years ago, and US Representative Burgess Owens, a former professional American football player who in 1980 won the Super Bowl with the Oakland Raiders, Hsiao said.
Asked whether other video conferences with US officials had been arranged for Lai, Hsiao did not respond.
Eight Chinese naval vessels and 24 military aircraft were detected crossing the median line of the Taiwan Strait between 6am yesterday and 6am today, the Ministry of National Defense said this morning. The aircraft entered Taiwan’s northern, central, southwestern and eastern air defense identification zones, the ministry said. The armed forces responded with mission aircraft, naval vessels and shore-based missile systems to closely monitor the situation, it added. Eight naval vessels, one official ship and 36 aircraft sorties were spotted in total, the ministry said.
INCREASED CAPACITY: The flights on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays would leave Singapore in the morning and Taipei in the afternoon Singapore Airlines is adding four supplementary flights to Taipei per week until May to meet increased tourist and business travel demand, the carrier said on Friday. The addition would raise the number of weekly flights it operates to Taipei to 18, Singapore Airlines Taiwan general manager Timothy Ouyang (歐陽漢源) said. The airline has recorded a steady rise in tourist and business travel to and from Taipei, and aims to provide more flexible travel arrangements for passengers, said Ouyang, who assumed the post in July last year. From now until Saturday next week, four additional flights would depart from Singapore on Monday, Wednesday, Friday
The Ministry of National Defense yesterday reported the return of large-scale Chinese air force activities after their unexplained absence for more than two weeks, which had prompted speculation regarding Beijing’s motives. China usually sends fighter jets, drones and other military aircraft around the nation on a daily basis. Interruptions to such routine are generally caused by bad weather. The Ministry of National Defense said it had detected 26 Chinese military aircraft in the Taiwan Strait over the previous 24 hours. It last reported that many aircraft on Feb. 25, when it spotted 30 aircraft, saying Beijing was carrying out another “joint combat
Taiwan successfully defended its women’s 540 kilogram title and won its first-ever men’s 640 kg title at the 2026 World Indoor Tug of War Championships in Taipei yesterday. In the women’s event, Taiwan’s eight-person squad reached the final following a round-robin preliminary round and semifinals featuring teams from Ukraine, Japan, Thailand, Vietnam, the Basque Country and South Korea. In the finals, they swept the Basque team 2-0, giving the team composed mainly of National Taiwan Normal University students and graduates its second championship in a row, and its fourth in five years. Team captain
RSS