Another U.S. congressional delegation has landed in Taiwan, the second in less than one month. This time around, the bipartisan delegates are officials involved in veteran''s affairs, national defense and foreign relations. The delegation touched down in Taiwan Thursday night, and on Friday morning the group paid a call at the Presidential Office and the Veterans Affairs Council.
They greet each other clasping hands. President Tsai Ing-wen received the U.S. bipartisan congressional delegation at the Presidential Office on Friday morning.
Tsai Ing-wen
President
Seeing the guests from both U.S. parties here today lets us feel once again the bipartisan support for Taiwan in the U.S. Congress.
At 9:30 in the morning, the delegation went to the Veterans Affairs Council, where they sat with council minister Feng Shih-kuan.
Stepping out from the bus and waving to reports is Mark Takano, chair of the House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs.
He’s leading a congressional delegation comprising representatives involved in veteran, military and foreign affairs. They include Colin Allred, Elissa Slotkin and Sara Jacobs from the Democratic Party, Nancy Mace from the Republican Party and several aides for a total of 17 people. Many of them have been vocal in their support of Taiwan.
Right after landing in Taiwan Mace tweeted a photo of herself in front of the plane with the caption “Just touched down in the Republic of Taiwan,” followed by two emojis of the national flags of the U.S. and Taiwan.
Also on Twitter, Slotkin revealed that, after news of her Taiwan trip broke on Wednesday, her office had received a “blunt message” from the Chinese Embassy in Washington urging her to call off the trip. She followed up saying that she looked forward to an informative trip.
Mark Ho
DPP lawmaker
Yesterday so happened to be Thanksgiving. They barely had time to dig into the turkey when they had to rush off to come to Taiwan. They’re here to conduct exchanges with veterans, and exchange ideas on their experiences. The focus is more on national defense than on diplomacy.
The delegation had kicked off its tour of East Asia with visits to Japan and South Korea. Now, they’re in Taiwan to discuss U.S.-Taiwan relations and regional security. The delegation will also exchange ideas on Taiwan’s reforms to the nation’s reserve forces. It’s the second U.S. congressional delegation to visit Taiwan in a U.S. military plane in the past month.
Delegations from the U.S. keep arriving in Taiwan, reflecting the growing alliance between the two countries.
