Republican heavyweight McCaul visits Taiwan for 3rd time

Republican heavyweight McCaul visits Taiwan for 3rd time

2026-08-04

Michael McCaul, Chairman Emeritus of the US House Committee on Foreign Affairs, is back in Taiwan for his third visit. This time he spoke about Taiwan being the recipient of a US$11 billion military sales package, which is the largest foreign military sales package in US history. McCaul also mentioned that an even bigger US$14 billion package is in the works, and so he’s urging Taiwan to quickly pass its defense budget.

President Lai is all smiles as he wears this cowboy hat, which is a gift from Michael McCaul, Chairman Emeritus of the US House Committee on Foreign Affairs. But this hat isn’t the first one Lai has gotten from McCaul, who, back in 2024, lead a delegation to Taiwan just days after Lai had assumed his presidency.

In order to convey his appreciation to McCaul for his continued support of Taiwan as well as speaking on the island’s behalf on the international stage, Lai awarded an Order of Brilliant Star with Grand Cordon to McCaul.

Lai Ching-te
President
On behalf of the people of Taiwan, I would like to express our gratitude to Michael McCaul, Chairman Emeritus of the US House Committee on Foreign Affairs, for the many years he has dedicated to deepening Taiwan-US relations, supporting democratic Taiwan, and preserving peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait. I would especially like to thank Chairman Emeritus McCaul for his many years of supporting Taiwan and helping bolster our national defense. In addition to pushing the US’ Executive Branch to expedite its delivery of military goods and weapons equipment to Taiwan, this year he and a bipartisan group of US Congressmen have supported Taiwan’s special defense budget.

- I love Taiwan. And I do love Taiwan.

Michael McCaul
US House Foreign Affairs Committee
Last December, Congress signed off on the largest foreign military sales package in history at US$11 billion dollars, and we aren’t stopping there. I’m confident the president will forward soon another package to Congress with an additional US$14 billion dollars in critical military defense articles. On this point, that it is not US policy to allow our diplomatic relationship with China to tie up arms sales to Taiwan.

McCaul reiterated that the US supports Taiwan and he promised that arms sales to Taiwan won’t be influenced by China. McCaul is a Republican member of the US House of Representatives. In the past, his support of Taiwan resulted in China punishing him with sanctions, which included freezing his assets in China and barring him from entering the country. His third visit to Taiwan, McCaul, who expressed it was an honor to be awarded a star, is planning to stay in Taiwan for 6 days. In addition to seeing Lai and top government officials, McCaul will also be speaking at the Ketagalan Forum. During the ceremony with Lai, McCaul called on Taiwan to quickly pass its defense budget.

Michael McCaul
US House Foreign Affairs Committee
I look forward to seeing Taiwan pass its annual defense budget. It is critical that Taiwan pass this budget to advance funding for its domestic drone production. Passing this bill will reiterate Taiwan’s commitment to its own self-defense and signal a great leap of faith in Washington.

In addition to featuring high-ranking government officials from the US, this year’s Ketagalan Forum has also invited Eswatini Prime Minister Russell Dlamini, who, according to foreign news sources, had previously said he was open to developing diplomatic relations with China. His visit to Taiwan might hint that the rumors are unfounded.

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