《TAIPEI TIMES》House committee chair to lead Taipei trip in spring

Bloomberg

US House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Michael McCaul said he plans to lead a bipartisan delegation to Taiwan this spring, despite renewed tensions with Beijing over China’s alleged spy balloon incursion over the US.

“I think it’s important to show China that we support Taiwan as a deterrence. I think it’s important to do that,” McCaul, a Republican, said in an interview on Tuesday.

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The schedule and member list remains fluid, but the trip would likely take place during the congressional recess in April, a person familiar with the matter said.

Discussions with some House Democrats have started about joining such a trip with McCaul, said one of the lawmakers who have been approached.

McCaul said House Speaker Kevin McCarthy would plan a separate trip to Taiwan either later this year or next year.

He said he intends to join McCarthy, whenever the speaker does go.

The US-China relationship is already under fresh strain after Beijing flew an alleged spy balloon across the continental US and accused the administration of US President Joe Biden of overreacting when it shot the balloon down over the Atlantic Ocean.

China declined a US request to hold a secure call between US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin and Chinese Minister of National Defense Wei Fenghe （魏鳳和） immediately after the balloon was downed, the US Department of Defense has said.

House Republicans have made competition with China a key feature of their agenda now that they control the chamber, and lawmakers formed a bipartisan select committee to study the matter.

McCaul has pushed the Biden administration to impose stronger export controls cutting China off from critical technologies.

US Senator Todd Young, a Republican who also visited Taipei last month, encouraged McCarthy and every other member of the US Congress to go.

In an interview, he said the Chinese government told him to cancel the visit.

“The worst thing we could do is to balk,” Young said.

At least 37 US lawmakers visited Taiwan last year, by far the most in a decade, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

Young was the first lawmaker to visit this year on Jan. 17

新聞來源：TAIPEI TIMES