President Tsai receives US House delegation, pledges to deepen ties

2023/09/05

President Tsai Ing-wen reaffirmed Taiwan’s commitment to working with democracies around the world to uphold regional stability and prosperity while receiving a delegation from the U.S. House of Representatives at the Presidential Office Sept. 1 in Taipei City.
 
Led by Rob Wittman, vice chair of the House Armed Services Committee, the group comprised Reps. Carlos Gimenez, Jen Kiggans and Michael Cloud. American Institute in Taiwan Director Sandra Oudkirk was also present at the meeting.
 
According to the president, the visiting lawmakers’ stalwart support of Taiwan is evidenced by their promotion of such legislation as the National Defense Authorization Act, which continues to bolster Taiwan’s self-defense capabilities and expand bilateral security cooperation.
 
Equally important, Tsai said, is the bipartisan support in the U.S. Capitol for the Taiwan-U.S. Initiative on 21st-Century Trade. With the signing of the first agreement under the milestone pact, the president said that she expected both countries to further develop two-way trade and investment while resolving the issue of double taxation.
 
In the face of expanding authoritarianism, the president said it is more important than ever for members of the free world to work in unity. She expressed her hopes that the delegation’s visit would enable deeper understanding and continued cooperation.
 
In response, Whittman said the long-standing relationship between the U.S. and Taiwan is built upon their shared values of democracy and the rule of law. A mutual interest in technological and economic development also contributes to the partnership, which the representative called strong and continuing to get stronger.
 
Wittman said any hostile, unprovoked attack on Taiwan will result in a resolute reaction from the U.S. He added that members of the House on both sides of the aisle are working to make sure the US$19 billion backlog in foreign military sales gets fulfilled.


Source: Taiwan Today (https://taiwantoday.tw/index.php)