US lawmakers meet with Taiwan president in surprise visit

TAIPEI – Five U.S. lawmakers met with Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen Friday greeting successful a astonishment one-day sojourn intended to reaffirm the United States' “rock solid” enactment for the self-governing island.

The bi-partisan radical of lawmakers from the U.S. House of Representatives arrived successful Taiwan connected Thursday nighttime and were readying to conscionable with elder leaders including Tsai, said the American Institute successful Taiwan, the de facto embassy. No further details were provided astir their itinerary.

The sojourn comes arsenic tensions betwixt Taiwan and China person risen to their highest level successful decades. Taiwan has been self-ruled since the 2 sides divided during a civilian warfare successful 1949, but China considers the land portion of its ain territory.

“When quality of our travel broke yesterday, my bureau received a blunt connection from the Chinese Embassy, telling maine to telephone disconnected the trip,” Representative Elissa Slotkin, D-Mich., who is portion of the delegation, wrote connected Twitter.

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Representatives Mark Takano, D-Calif., Colin Allred, D-Texas., Sara Jacobs, D-Calif., and Nancy Mace, R-S.C., are besides portion of the visiting delegation.

“We are present successful Taiwan this week to punctual our partners and allies, aft 2 trying years that we’ve endured, that our committedness and shared work for a escaped and unafraid Indo-Pacific portion stay stronger than ever," said Takano.

Takano added that the U.S. narration with Taiwan is “rock coagulated and has remained steadfast arsenic the ties betwixt america person deepened.”

Tsai, who welcomed the lawmakers and the AIT manager astatine the Presidential Office successful Taipei, noted the 2 sides’ practice successful veterans’ affairs, economical issues and commercialized portion reiterating the island’s adjacent alignment with the U.S.

“Taiwan volition proceed to measurement up practice with the United States successful bid to uphold our shared values of state and ideology and to guarantee bid and stableness successful the region,” Tsai said.

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The sojourn is the 3rd by U.S. lawmakers to Taiwan this twelvemonth and comes conscionable a fewer weeks aft a radical of six Republican members of Congress visited the island. That delegation met with President Tsai, National Security Secretary General Wellington Koo and Foreign Minister Joseph Wu, among others.

In June, 3 members of Congress flew to Taiwan to donate severely needed vaccines astatine a clip erstwhile the land was struggling to get enough.

The Biden medication has besides invited Taiwan to a Summit for Democracy adjacent month, a determination that drew a crisp rebuke from China.

China's Foreign Ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian said connected Wednesday, "What the U.S. did proves that the alleged ideology is conscionable a pretext and instrumentality for it to prosecute geopolitical goals, suppress different countries, disagreement the world, service its ain involvement and support its hegemony successful the world.”

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