The visits by five members of the U.S. House of Representatives are sincerely welcomed by the government and people, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said Aug. 31.
Congress members from the House Armed Services Committee, Vice Chair Rob Wittman and committee members Carlos Gimenez and Jen Kiggans are currently visiting Taiwan, as are two other congressmen Alex Mooney and Michael Cloud. These latest visits follow close on the heels of another U.S. delegation led by Committee Chair Mike Rogers in June.
The five congress members will meet with President Tsai Ing-wen and attend a banquet hosted by Foreign Minister Jaushieh Joseph Wu Sept. 1 to discuss Taiwan-U.S. relations and other key regional issues.
According to the MOFA, Wittman proposed many initiatives to enhance bilateral security cooperation and strengthen Taiwan’s defense capabilities. As members of the House committee and Congressional Taiwan Caucus, Gimenez and Kiggans are strong supporters of the Taiwan-U.S. partnership, while Mooney and Cloud are also staunch friends of Taiwan, the ministry added.
At a time when authoritarianism continues to expand and China persists in voicing threats to use force to change the cross-strait status quo, the number of visits by members of the U.S. Capitol underscores the unwavering support of the law-making body as well as the importance and commitment it attaches to peace, stability and prosperity in the Indo-Pacific, the MOFA said.
The visits gain members a better understanding of the situation in Taiwan and bode well for future deepening of two-way ties to promote rules-based international order, the ministry said. (SFC-E)
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