House lawmakers make first post-election visit to Taiwan

Senior House lawmakers met Taiwan’s president-elect in Taipei on Thursday, marking the first congressional delegation to the island after elections earlier this month, in a show of American support amid an intimidation campaign from Beijing. 

Taiwan president-elect Lai Ching-te said he welcomed deepening ties with the U.S. alongside Reps. Mario Diaz-Balart (R-Fla.) and Ami Bera (D-Calif.), the bipartisan co-chairs of the House Taiwan Caucus. 

“Marking 45 years of the Taiwan Relations Act, we look forward to deepening Taiwan-US partnership and remain committed to advancing regional stability,” Lai wrote on X, formerly Twitter. 

Taiwan looks to the U.S. as its key partner to counter China’s efforts to subsume the island through diplomatic, economic and military coercion. 

Taiwan experts on both sides of the Pacific see a high chance of a crisis in the Taiwan Strait this year, likely in the form of a Chinese blockade of “quarantine” of Taiwan.

Diaz-Balart, chair of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs, said in a post on X that the trip served to find new ways to strengthen U.S. and Taiwan ties. 

“Proud to be a part of the first congressional delegation to visit Taiwan following another free and transparent election,” Diaz-Balart wrote on X.

“It was an honor to congratulate President-elect Dr. Lai and Vice President-Elect Bi-khim Hsiao on their victory,” the congressman wrote in another post. 

Lai, who currently serves as vice president, has promised to maintain the policy of President Tsai Ing-wen to hold back on formally declaring Taiwan as independent from Beijing, but maintain the island’s autonomy in talks with Beijing about relations between the two capitals. 

Key to that position is robust U.S. support. The U.S. holds informal diplomatic ties with Taiwan to preserve formal relations with Beijing.

The U.S. maintains a position of “strategic ambiguity” towards Taiwan, seeking to portray itself as a neutral player between Taipei and Beijing, but President Biden has pushed those boundaries by promising to intervene militarily if the island is invaded by China.