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US officials including lawmaker Mike Gallagher to visit Taiwan in coming months
According to the Financial Times, many U.S. officials are expected to make visits to Taiwan in the coming months. Among them are pro-Taiwan heavyweights such as Republican lawmaker Mike Gallagher, who chairs the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party. DPP lawmaker Wang Ting-yu says there will be frequent international visits by U.S. officials this year, as supporting Taiwan has become a mainstream opinion in the U.S.
Before the election, Lai Ching-te’s campaign office was filled with visitors every day, many of whom purchased campaign merch and helped the party with donations. But the days of rushing for goodies are over now that the election is past. The campaign office is closing, and so is the memorabilia shop inside. Lai urged his supporters to head to the venue on the last day on Friday and take photos to remember the campaign by. Though the election is over, Lai’s public schedule is packed as can be.
The day after the election, the U.S. sent a bipartisan delegation of senior former officials to Taiwan. On Thursday, the Financial Times reported that more U.S. lawmakers are set to visit Taiwan in coming weeks in a show of support for Lai. Next week, the top Democrat on the House foreign affairs Indo-Pacific subcommittee Ami Bera will visit, and so will Republicans Andy Barr and Mario Diaz-Balart, who co-chair the Congressional Taiwan Caucus. They will meet with Lai, but not with defeated presidential candidates Hou Yu-ih or Ko Wen-je. The next person to visit will be Republican lawmaker Mike Gallagher.
Mike Gallagher (April 6, 2023)
Select Committee on the CCP chair
President Tsai talks about it. It’s an attempt to get us, to intimidate us and to get us to back down. Who the speaker of the house meets with in American soil is, quite frankly, none of the CCP’s business.
Last year in April, President Tsai Ing-wen met with then-U.S. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy during a transit stop in the U.S. Gallagher had attended the meeting, as the chair of the Select Committee on the CCP. As a vocal supporter of Taiwan, the Financial Times notes that China is paying close attention to his Taiwan visit. The report adds that more U.S. lawmakers are expected to visit Taiwan for Lai’s presidential inauguration on May 20 as well as to mark the 45th anniversary of the Taiwan Relations Act in March and April.
Wang Ting-yu
DPP lawmaker
These plans show that Taiwan-U.S. relations remain stable and continue to warm up. It also shows that supporting Taiwan is a mainstream opinion in the U.S. The U.S. is holding general elections this year, so visiting Taiwan and carrying out exchanges with Taiwan is a plus for candidates. In the coming year, there will be more U.S.-Taiwan interactions, and more exchanges with Lai Ching-te and Hsiao Bi-khim.
With four months to go until Lai is inaugurated president, Taiwan remains in the international spotlight.
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2024-01-19
