Several US lawmakers are to travel to Taiwan in the next few weeks to show support for president-elect William Lai (賴清德), the Financial Times reported yesterday.
US Representative Ami Bera, the Democratic ranking member of the US House of Representatives Subcommittee on the Indo-Pacific, is to visit next week, the newspaper said, citing people familiar with the plans.
He is to be joined by two other cochairs of the Congressional Taiwan Caucus, Republican representatives Andy Barr and Mario Diaz-Balart, it reported.
Photo: Bloomberg
US Representative Mike Gallagher, who chairs the US House Select Committee on Strategic Competition between the United States and the Chinese Communist Party, is expected to travel to Taiwan after the first delegation, it added.
The delegation next week is to meet with Lai, but not the losing candidates, the paper cited one person familiar with the planning as saying.
US House Speaker Mike Johnson earlier this week said that he would ask the Republican chairs of “relevant” committees to travel to Taiwan after Lai’s inauguration in May, the Financial Times said.
Gallagher declined to comment to the paper on his visit and whether he would be leading a delegation.
More congressional delegations are expected around the inauguration as well as in March or April to mark the 45th anniversary of the US’ Taiwan Relations Act, it said.
The paper quoted an academic based in Taipei as saying that a delegation from the the US House Select Committee on Strategic Competition between the United States and the Chinese Communist Party would be more inflammatory to Beijing.
“China would certainly go mad over a delegation of [US House] China committee members,” Tamkang University foreign policy expert James Chen (陳奕帆) said. “A visit by members of the Taiwan caucus would be less sensitive because many of them are not necessarily anti-China, while the China committee clearly treats China as a target.”
Palauan President Surangel Whipps Jr arrived in Taiwan last night to kick off his first visit to the country since beginning his second term earlier this year. After arriving at Taoyuan International Airport at around 6:30 pm, Whipps and his delegation were welcomed by Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍). Speaking to gathered media, the Palauan leader said he was excited and honored to be back in Taiwan on his first state visit to Taiwan since he was sworn in this January. Among those traveling with Whipps is Minister of State Gustav N. Aitaro, Public Infrastructure
RESOLUTIONS DEBATE: Taiwan’s allies said that UN and WHA resolutions cited by China and other nations ‘do not determine Taiwan’s participation in WHO activities’ A proposal to invite Taiwan to this year’s World Health Assembly (WHA) was rejected on Monday, resulting in Taipei’s absence from the annual meeting for a ninth consecutive year, although partners spoke up for Taiwan’s participation at the first day of the meeting. The first agenda item after the opening was a “two-on-two debate” on a proposal to invite Taiwan to participate at the WHA as an observer. Similar to previous years, two countries made statements in favor of the proposal, while two others expressed their opposition. Philippine Secretary of Health Teodoro Herbosa, president of the 78th WHA, accepted the WHA General Committee’s
President William Lai (賴清德) yesterday thanked Palau for its continued support of Taiwan's international participation, as Taipei was once again excluded from the World Health Assembly (WHA) currently taking place in Switzerland. "Palau has never stopped voicing support for Taiwan" in the UN General Assembly, the WHO and other UN-affiliated agencies, Lai said during a bilateral meeting with visiting Palau President Surangel Whipps Jr. "We have been profoundly touched by these endorsements," Lai said, praising the Pacific island nation's firm support as "courageous." Lai's remarks came as Taiwan was excluded for the ninth consecutive year from the WHA, which is being held in
At least three people died and more than a dozen were injured yesterday afternoon when a vehicle struck a group of pedestrians in New Taipei City’s Sansia District (三峽). The incident happened at about 4pm when a car rammed into pedestrians at an intersection near Bei Da Elementary School. Witnesses said the sedan, being driven at a high speed, ran a red light, knocking scooters out of the way and hitting students crossing the road before careening into a median near the intersection of Guocheng and Guoguang streets. The incident resulted in three deaths and 13 injuries, including the driver, a 78-year-old man
RSS