South China Sea conflict: Six US lawmakers travel to Taiwan in unannounced visit

The US is looking to ramp up its support for Taiwan in the midst of the ongoing conflict with Ukraine. In an unannounced visit, a bipartisan group of six US lawmakers arrived in Taiwan this week.

Reuters reports a bipartisan group of six US lawmakers arrived in Taiwan Thursday. The group included the Democratic chair of the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Bob Menendez, and traveled to Taiwan in an unannounced visit in a show of support for the island nation that is still facing pressure from China, which claims Taiwan as part of the mainland.

The group is meeting with Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen on Friday during their two-day visit to the island nation. The senators landed at Songshan airport and were greeted by Taiwan’s Foreign Minister Joseph Wu.

Menendez, who is a staunch supporter of Taiwan, proposed legislation back in February for the US to negotiate to rename the de facto embassy of Taiwan in Washington as the “Taiwan Representative Office.” While the US has no formal relations with the island nation, it is Taiwan’s biggest arms supplier by treaty, which has already caused strain on the relations between China and the US.

Presidential Office spokesperson Xavier Chang said in a statement that the visit by the US lawmakers shows the bipartisan support for Taiwan, but the nature of the US-Taiwan relations.

“The Presidential Office looks forward to continuing to deepen the Taiwan-US partnership through this face-to-face exchange and continuing to work together to contribute to global and regional peace, stability, prosperity, and development,” said Chang.

During the meeting, Republican Senator Lindsey Graham told Tsai that the ongoing conflict in Ukraine and China’s aggression has only united the United States’ opinion in a way that has not been seen before. This also comes as China decided to hold military drills around Taiwan, as a way of criticizing the US lawmakers who visited the island nation.

“To abandon Taiwan would be to abandon democracy and freedom,” said Graham. “There’s a backlash growing in the world to thuggery – to the bad guys.”

Menendez told Tsai that Taiwan is a “country of global significance” and its security has implications for the rest of the world.