US lawmakers visit Taiwan to discuss security measures, say ‘here to reaffirm commitment'

A team of five bipartisan US House of Representatives members landed in Taiwan, on Thursday night, for discussions on security measures, marking the second time in a month that American lawmakers have visited the island. The team consisted of representatives Elissa Slotkin, Mark Takano, Colin Alred, Sara Jacobs and Nancy Mace. Notably, this comes as the Biden Administration invited Taiwanese lawmakers for a democracy summit alongside 109 other governments, subsequently irking China. 

Tensions between Bejing and Taipei have escalated astronomically in recent months with many experts warning against the possibility of an armed conflict. On Friday, the team held a meeting with the democratically elected leader of the self-governing island Tsai Ing-Wen. In the aftermath, Slotkin took to Twitter to reveal that the Chinese embassy in Washington had warned them against the visit. 

In an online statement, Slotkin wrote, 'After celebrating Thanksgiving with U.S. troops in Korea, I just touched down in Taiwan. After stops in Japan and Korea, it’ll be good to connect with leaders here to discuss a whole host of economic and national security issues.' She further stressed that the ''informative" visit was aimed at reasserting US support to Taiwan. 

US expresses serious concerns

Meanwhile, Washington has raised serious concerns over China's growing belligerence on Taipei and its clampdown on international trade rules for the self-ruled island by exerting economic pressure. At the bilateral dialogue held between the two countries to deepen cooperation and strengthen their robust economic partnership, the two sides emphasised on People’s Republic of China’s economic aggression on democratic Taiwan in the second annual 2021 economic dialogue US-Taiwan Economic Prosperity Partnership Dialogue (EPPD) convened by US Secretary for Economic Growth, Energy, and the Environment Jose W. Fernandez as the Cold War-era tensions spilt in the Asia-Pacific region. 

Convened by officials at American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) and the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office (TECRO) in the United States, the two nations, at the dialogue focused on the growing Chinese economic coercion on Taiwan, the island’s semi-conductor supply, and chip shortages, supply chain resiliency, promoting the digital economy, strengthening 5G network security among others.   

Image: AP/ReNancyMace/Twitter