Taiwan leader hails US ties: ‘We are not alone’

UPDATED at 4:27 pm ET on 2023-04-05

Against increasingly bellicose threats from Beijing, Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen met with a bipartisan congressional delegation led by House Speaker Kevin McCarthy outside Los Angeles on Wednesday. , and declared that “we are not isolated or alone”.

Tsai arrived at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in the city of Simi Valley shortly before 10 a.m., and McCarthy greeted the Taiwanese leader outside before escorting her to a closed-door roundtable with 17 other House members from both parties. main.

Leaving McCarthy around noon, Tsai said she was grateful for the time spent by lawmakers from all parties, which included House Democratic caucus chairman Pete Aguilar and Mike Gallagher, a Republican who chairs the Select Committee. of the Chamber on China.

“Your presence and unwavering support reassure the people of Taiwan that we are not isolated and we are not alone,” Tsai said.

He noted that it was appropriate to meet at a venue dedicated to “a distinguished American president” who issued the 1982 Six Guarantees It’s Taiwan.

In the years since that statement, Tsai explained, the autonomous island had democratized and “maintained peace and promoted prosperity.” But he suggested that the legacy was now under threat, and seemed to make a veiled reference to the government of China.

“It is no secret that today the peace we have kept and the democracy we have worked hard to build face unprecedented challenges,” he said. “Once again we find ourselves in a world where democracy is under threat, and the urgency of keeping the beacon of freedom shining cannot be underestimated.”

The Taiwanese leader later quoted Reagan from a 1987 speech in which he said: “Freedom is never more than a generation away from extinction.” As he read the words, McCarthy spoke the words.

the free world

Standing next to Tsai, the Speaker of the US House of Representatives said he believed US-Taiwan relations had grown closer due to his latest visit and that “our bond is stronger now than it was in the past.” any moment or point of my life”.

“Taiwan is a successful democracy, a prosperous economy and a world leader in health and science,” McCarthy said, praising the “shared values” of Taiwan and the United States, as well as their expanding trade ties and “strong people-to-people relationships.” people relationships.”

“The friendship between the peoples of Taiwan and the United States,” he added, “is a matter of profound importance to the free world.”

Outside the library, protests continued between Tsai’s supporters and pro-Beijing groups, who argue that she should not be in the United States. But how in New York last weekthere was no violence.

Beijing has criticized Tsai.”transit” across the United States this week and last, labeling the trip a campaign for Taiwanese independence. He regards the autonomous island as a renegade province and has vowed to “reunify” it with the mainland using force if necessary.

A Chinese diplomat too warned of a “serious, serious, serious confrontation in the US-China relationship” if the meeting takes place, but Biden administration officials say that is McCarthy’s prerogative.

Early Wednesday morning, China’s navy sent a group of aircraft carriers through the Bashi Channel between Taiwan and the Philippines and into the Pacific, according to Taiwan’s Defense Ministry, which called the move irresponsible and announced new naval exercises on Friday. next week.

John Kirby, a spokesman for the White House National Security Council, said Wednesday that Beijing’s moves do not concern him.

“There is nothing atypical or uncommon about Taiwanese presidents transiting through the United States or indeed meeting with members of Congress. That’s pretty typical, too,” Kirby told reporters.

“Our position remains the same: there is no reason for the Chinese to overreact. We will watch this as closely as we can.”

‘A pathetic threat’

Last week, Tsai also met with another bipartisan congressional delegation led by House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, a Democrat from New York, during his visit to the East Coast, according to reportsbut that meeting was not made public until after it took place.

But it was the high-profile McCarthy meeting that angered Beijing.

Washington-based PunchBowl News obtained an email Tuesday sent to McCarthy by Li Xiang, the Chinese Embassy’s Washington liaison to Congress, warning of the consequences of the meeting.

“I must point out that China will not sit idly by in the face of blatant provocation and will most likely take necessary and resolute measures in response to the unwanted situation,” Li wrote. “Former Speaker (Nancy) Pelosi visit to taiwan last year triggered a serious crisis in the US-China relationship, and lessons must be learned.”

Rep. Ashley Hinson, an Iowa Republican, told Radio Free Asia before the meeting that she, too, had received the warning.

“We did not respond to the embassy, ​​but we did make the email public to expose their tactics,” Hinson said, calling it a “pathetic threat,” adding that he would “relentlessly defend freedom and with Taiwan.”

“My message to them is this: I look forward to meeting with President Tsai and reaffirming our commitment to Taiwan and freedom-loving nations everywhere,” Hinson said.

Tsai returns to Taiwan on Thursday. But the drama might not be over.

McCarthy said last month he may repeat Pelosi’s trip to Taiwan this year, insisting that “China can’t tell me where and when I can go.”

Meanwhile, Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin, a rising star in the Republican Party and a potential 2024 presidential contender, also said Tuesday he will visit Taiwan later this month.

Edited by Malcolm Foster.