China Coast Guard/Weibo
This third-party image shows China Coast Guard training in waters near Taiwan.
CNN
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House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Michael McCaul and a bipartisan delegation of lawmakers arrived in Taiwan on Sunday following the election of the island’s new president and several days of Chinese military exercises.
The six lawmakers’ arrival came just days after the inauguration of Lai Ching-te, who has been denounced by Beijing as a “dangerous separatist” and whose election triggered the largest military drills China has launched around Taiwan in more than a year. The Chinese Communist Party claims the self-governing democracy as part of its territory despite never ruling it, and has vowed to seize it by force if necessary.
“As President Putin wages war in Ukraine and Israel wages a multi-front war with Iranian-backed proxies like Hamas, President Xi Jinping is watching to see that America continues to support our partners and friends,” McCaul said in a statement, referring to Chinese leader Xi Jinping. “Taiwan is a thriving democracy, and the United States will continue to stand with our steadfast partner in preserving the status quo in the Taiwan Strait. I look forward to meeting with Taiwanese officials to better understand what America can do to uphold peace in Asia and build shared democratic values.”
The delegation will discuss “regional security, trade and investment” with Taiwanese authorities and explore new areas of cooperation, the House Foreign Affairs Committee said in a statement.
Beijing said the two-day joint Chinese military drills around Taiwan and in the Taiwan Strait were launched to “test our capabilities to jointly seize power, launch joint attacks and occupy key areas.” The drills saw dozens of fighter jets carrying live ammunition carry out mock attacks on “key military targets” of the “enemy,” CNN reported Thursday.
U.S. officials have condemned the drills, with the State Department calling on China to “act with restraint.”
Two years ago, former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi visited Taiwan, the first by a US House speaker in 25 years, a trip that was met with days of major military exercises and warnings from Beijing of “serious implications” for US-China relations.
In April 2023, then-Speaker of the House of Representatives Kevin McCarthy similarly defied the Chinese threat, forming a united front with then-President Tsai Ing-wen at a meeting in California. Though officials at the time tried to downplay the meeting so as not to provoke Beijing (which nevertheless condemned it and promised “strong and decisive measures”), the political significance of the Taiwanese president meeting with a high-level audience in the United States was clear.
During a three-day visit to China last month, Secretary of State Antony Blinken met with Chinese President Xi Jinping, who said the U.S. and China should be “partners, not adversaries.” The two countries have called for greater communication and stabilization of a fragile relationship that has been further complicated by intimidating military exercises and threats against Taiwan.
