U.S. Congressional Delegation Visits Taiwan：Abandoning Taiwan Like Abandoning Freedom
United Daily News, April 16, 2022
Republican Senator Lindsey Graham, ranking Republican on the Senate Budget Committee, led a Congressional delegation to visit Taiwan for 24 hours. Graham said on April 15, “To abandon Taiwan would be to abandon freedom itself; America is not going to abandon freedom.” Democratic Senator Bob Menendez, who chairs the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, also remarked that the whole world is paying attention to Taiwan and will not allow Taiwan to be “negatively impacted” because the world’s interests are involved. Menendez revealed that all members of the delegation kept their commitment to Taiwan and were not dissuaded despite receiving protests from China.
After the arrival of these six major congressmen in Taiwan, the Communist Eastern Theater Command announced yesterday that it will dispatch destroyers, frigates, bombers, fighters and other multi-service arms to jointly conduct combat readiness patrols and carry out subject drills such as sea assaults. Spokesman Zhao Lijian of mainland China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs even indicated more clearly that relevant operations in the Eastern Theater Command “is a countermeasure to the recent negative actions of the United Sates, including the visit of the congressional group to Taiwan.”
The congressional delegation met with President Tsai Ing-wen, Minister of National Defense Chiu Kuo-cheng, and Minister of Foreign Affairs Joseph Wu on April 15 and held a small press conference. The delegation’s visit in Taiwan ended the same night as they headed to Japan. President Tsai said during the meeting that she is looking forward to playing an active role in the new Indo-Pacific strategy and for Taiwan to join hands with the United States and other countries with the same philosophy to maintain peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific region.
When asked about thoughts on former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo’s call for the United States to recognize Taiwan diplomatically, Graham responded that their visit is to let the Taiwanese people know that both the Republican and the Democratic parties fully support Taiwan. “We are not here to change the one-China policy, but to tell the people of Taiwan that we support Taiwan,” Graham said.
The media then asked whether or not the United States would send troops to defend Taiwan if Beijing attacked Taiwan. Graham answered, “To abandon Taiwan is to give in to the rule of gun versus the rule of law; if America abandons Taiwan, then it would change the world fundamentally for the worse. Who would be our ally in the future?”
Regarding the name change of Taiwan’s representative office in the United States, Menendez said that it should be “Taiwan” and not the “Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office”. Senator Robert Portman also mentioned that Taiwan should join the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework, and even more importantly, sign a free trade agreement with the United States that can help both economies, ensure American national security, and not to mention the geopolitics significance it entails.
Members of the visiting delegation include Graham, Menendez, Republican Senator Portman, Republican Senator Richard Burr, Republican Senator Ben Sasse, and Republican Representative Ronny Jackson.
Legislator Ker Chien-ming, whip of the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), stated that these six Congress members are not only heavyweight and senior, but they also attach importance to Taiwan. They are bipartisan coming from both the Senate and House of Representatives, showing once again the “rock solid” relationship between Taiwan and the United States.
Nevertheless, Spokesman Shi Yi of the Eastern Theater Command of the People’s Liberation Army said that the combat readiness patrol in the sea and airspace around Taiwan was organized in response to the frequent release of wrong signals by the United States on the Taiwan issue recently. “The evil conduct and tricks of the United States are futile and very dangerous. Those who play with fire will burn themselves.”
Furthermore, Spokesman Wu Qian of mainland China’s Ministry of National Defense, also indicated that recently members of the U.S. Congress have deliberated provoked the Taiwan issue and visited Taiwan despite China’s strong opposition. Accordingly, the U.S. have seriously violated the one-China principle and the three Sino-U.S. Joint Communiqués, leading to further tensions across the Taiwan Strait.