A visit to Taiwan by two US senators has drawn criticism from China, which claims the island as its own and objects to any contact between officials of the two sides.
The chair of the Senate armed services committee, Roger Wicker, and the Nebraska senator Deb Fischer arrived in Taipei on Friday for a series of high-level meetings with senior Taiwanese leaders. They plan to discuss US-Taiwan relations, regional security and trade and investment, according to the American Institute in Taiwan, Washington’s de facto embassy in lieu of formal diplomatic relations with the self-governing island democracy.
Upon arrival, Wicker said: “A thriving democracy is never fully assured … and we’re here to talk to our friends and allies in Taiwan about what we’re doing to enhance worldwide peace.”
Wicker told Taiwan’s president, Lai Ching-te, during a meeting at the presidential office in Taipei, that he and Fischer were visiting to get a better understanding of Taiwan’s needs and concerns.
“We come here from the United States bringing a message from the Congress of commitment, of long-term friendship and a determination that a free country like Taiwan absolutely has the right to remain free and preserve self-determination,” Wicker said.
“At a time of global unrest, it is extremely significant for us to be here,” Fischer added, noting that discussions would include “security, opportunities and progress for this part of the world”.
The Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun protested against the visit by the two Republicans, saying it “undermines China’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, and sends a gravely wrong signal to the separatist Taiwan independence forces”.
The US is Taiwan’s largest supplier of arms. It provides the island with the latest-generation tanks, air defence missiles and upgraded F-16 jet fighters as part of its guarantee of security against Beijing’s threat to invade.
China considers the US supply of arms to Taiwan a violation of commitments made to it by previous White House administrations.
But US-Taiwan ties have been strained since Donald Trump took office and launched a global trade war while also pressing governments in Europe and elsewhere to spend more on their own defence.
The Trump administration reportedly denied permission for Lai to stop over in New York as part of a planned official trip to Latin America this month after Beijing objected. Lai reportedly then cancelled the trip.
