Taiwan has assured that it will strengthen its military exchanges with the United States

Taiwan promote military exchanges with UNITED STATES to curb “authoritarian expansionism”, the president said on Tuesday Tsai Ing-wen after meeting with visiting U.S. lawmakers.

The five-day visit by members of the US Congress comes after a senior US defense official reportedly made a rare and highly secretive stopover on the self-governing island. when tensions between Washington and Beijing erupted over alleged Chinese spy balloons.

“Taiwan and the United States continue to strengthen their military exchanges”Tsai said after meeting with the US delegation at his office in Taipei.

“In the future, Taiwan will continue to actively cooperate with the United States and other democratic partners to address global challenges such as authoritarian expansionism and climate change.

Tsai did not provide further details on what future trades might entail.

“Visiting Taiwan is consistent with the foreign policy of (US) President Joe Biden, and in no way constitutes a provocation towards China (…) The United States recognizes the importance of the relationship with Taiwan and seeks peace in the region,” he said. Democrat Ro Khanna.

The legislator stressed that the idea is to have conversations with representatives from across the political spectrum to achieve the goal of improving relations in economic and political matters.

“We come here to strengthen the economic relationship. On behalf of Silicon Valley, I particularly appreciated meeting with Morris Chang,” he said, referring to the founder of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing.

Deputy Assistant Secretary of the United States Department of Defense, Michael Chasearrived last week at Taiwan amid heightened tensions with the Chinese regime For the bone spy balloons detected last month.

His official visit to the island, which was confirmed by a source close to the newspaper FinancialTimestook place less than two weeks after US to shoot down Chinese spy balloon in your airspace.

Similarly, a Pentagon spokesperson noted in statements to the aforementioned outlet that “US support for Taiwan, especially military, remains strong in the face of the threat posed by China”.

The Chinese regime, for its part, anticipated such a visit and insisted on its “I strongly reject any official contact between the United States and Taiwan.”

Washington diplomatically recognizes Beijing rather than Taipei, but is the self-governing island’s most important international benefactor and supports Taiwan’s right to decide its own future.

Beijing, which claims Taiwan as part of its territory and has vowed to take it one day, opposes any official trade with democracy and has reacted angrily to a series of trips to the island by US politicians these last years. .

(With information from AFP and Europa Press)

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