TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) — A delegation of U.S. lawmakers met with Taiwan’s legislative chief on Monday as part of a five-day visit to the self-ruled island that comes as U.S.-China relations remain strained after weeks of trade accusations. spy balloon
Delegates arriving Sunday included Reps. Ro Khanna of California, Tony Gonzales of Texas, Jake Auchincloss of Massachusetts and Jonathan Jackson of Illinois.
He is expected to meet with President Tsai Ing-wen as well as businessmen. There, they held talks with the founder of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company Morris Chang, considered the father of the island’s chip industry.
Khanna, a Democrat who represents Silicon Valley, said he was in Taiwan to learn about the island’s role in the semiconductor industry. Khanna and Auchincloss are members of the new House selection committee focused on competition with China.
He spoke of the implicit threat the visit faces, as China opposes all exchanges between Taiwan and foreign governments. China claims the island as part of its territory to annex by force if necessary, and has escalated military and diplomatic harassment of Taiwan.
“Our efforts to come here are not provocative of China, but consistent with the foreign policy of the president who recognizes the importance of relations like Taiwan, while still seeking peace in the region,” Khanna said.
The head of Taiwan’s Legislative Yuan, You Si-kun, used the speech to refute Wang Yi, the Chinese Communist Party’s most senior foreign policy official, who said at the weekend at the Munich Security Conference that Taiwan “has never been a country and will never be a country in the future front.
“China ignores historical facts and claims sovereignty over Taiwan. Taiwan has become an independent sovereign country… Taiwan has never been ruled by the People’s Republic of China for a single day,” You said.
The delegation’s visit follows a sensitive trip by senior Pentagon officials on Friday, the Financial Times reported.
A Pentagon spokesman did not comment on the visit of Michael Chase, the deputy assistant secretary of defense for China, repeating that “our commitment to Taiwan is solid and contributes to maintaining peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait and in the region.” Taiwan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that no there is information about the visit.
Tensions between the US and China again ratcheted up last month after Washington accused Beijing of sending a spy balloon shot down over America’s East Coast, and Secretary of State Antony Blinken canceled a trip to Beijing. Blinken also said over the weekend that the United States was concerned that China would supply weapons to Russia to fight in Ukraine.
Associated Press video producer Johnson Lai contributed to this report.