A group of five bipartisan U.S. lawmakers took a trip to Taiwan to meet President Tsai Ing-wen defying orders request from China.
House Veterans Affairs Committee chairman Rep. Mark Takano (D, CA-41), Rep. Colin Allred (D, TX-32), Rep. Nancy Mace (R, SC-01), Rep. Sara Jacobs (D, CA-53), and Rep. Elissa Slotkin (D-MI-08) took a trip to Japan and South Korea to serve food to U.S. troops stationed in the Asian countries.
Taiwan president Tsai Ing-wen released a statement after meeting with the lawmakers- “Taiwan will continue to step up cooperation with the United States in order to uphold our shared values of freedom and democracy and to ensure peace and stability in the region,”
Rep. Nancy Mace and Rep. Elissa Slotkin have previously made harsh criticisms of China and have previously mentioned that China had warned them not to visit Taiwan and the Chinese embassy demanded that the lawmakers cancel their trips.
“When News broke of our visit to Taiwan, China’s embassy demanded we cancel the trip (we didn’t). We’ve had a productive and meaningful visit throughout the Indo-Pacific region as the first bipartisan US House delegation since the start of COVID. This is just the start,” Mace said on Twitter.
Rep. Slotkin claimed that her office received “a blunt message” from the Chinese embassy requesting her to cancel the trip.
Despite the warnings from Chinese officials, this group of bipartisan lawmakers still took the trip defying the communist orders. This was the third visit by U.S. members of Congress to Taiwan in 2021.
What do you make of this group taking a trip to Taiwan despite Chinese requests? Share your thoughts in the comments below!
