WASHINGTON — Some of Congress’s biggest critics of China are visiting Taiwan in a show of support sure to draw attention from Beijing, which sees such interactions as a challenge to its claim to sovereignty over the island.
The delegation is led by Representative Mike Gallagher, the Republican chairman of the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party, and Raja Krishnamoorthi, the committee’s top Democrat. The commission was created last year and has held numerous hearings on human rights, trade, cyber intrusions and other issues at the center of rising tensions between the two superpowers.
“Taiwan has shown the world time and again how it can stand up to the CCP’s bullying and not only survive, but thrive,” Gallagher said in a press release issued after the group’s arrival. He went on to say that promoting deeper ties between the leaders and economies of the US and Taiwan “can enhance peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait.”
The delegation is expected to be in Taiwan for three days and is part of a larger visit to the Indo-Pacific region. Other members include Rep. John Moolenaar, R-Mich., Dusty Johnson, R-S.D., and Seth Moulton, D-Mass. The delegation will meet with senior Taiwanese leaders and members of civil society to discuss U.S.-Taiwan relations, regional security, trade and other important issues of mutual interest.
Krishnamoorthi said Taiwan is a bulwark against the growing threats facing democracies around the world.
“Americans stand with the people of Taiwan because we recognize that democracy is not just our form of government – it is a statement of our values,” he said.
A visit by then-House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi to Taiwan two years ago resulted in China sending warships and military aircraft to all sides of the self-governing island democracy and firing ballistic missiles into nearby waters. Last year, Kevin McCarthy, a new speaker of the House of Representatives who has since left office, hosted Taiwan’s president in a rare high-level meeting on U.S. soil.
The expressions of support for Taiwan reflect the growing willingness of many in Congress to engage China on a range of issues as economic ties between the two countries deteriorate. Earlier this month, the Commerce Department announced that Mexico last year surpassed China as the top source of U.S. imported goods for the first time in more than two decades.
Taiwan was also part of the $95 billion aid package that passed the Senate earlier this month but has stalled in the House of Representatives. That package, which targeted Ukraine and Israel, included $1.9 billion to supplement U.S. weapons supplied to Taiwan. Another $3.3 billion would go toward building more U.S.-made submarines to support a security partnership with Australia and Britain.
The delegation’s visit comes weeks after Lai Ching-te emerged victorious as Taiwan’s president-elect. He has vowed to secure the island’s de facto independence from China and further align the country with other democracies.