TAIPEI—Three U.S. senators will visit Taiwan on Sunday and will meet President Tsai Ing-wen to discuss security and other issues, Taiwan’s government and the de facto U.S. embassy in Taipei said on Saturday, a trip that will likely irritate the Chinese regime in Beijing.
The United States, like most countries, maintains unofficial diplomatic ties with the self-ruled island, which the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) wants to unite with the mainland under its communist rule. The United States remains the democratic island’s most important international backer and supplier of arms for its defense.
Sens. Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.) and Dan Sullivan (R-Ark.) of the Senate Armed Services Committee, and Christopher Coons (D-Del.) of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, will visit the island on Sunday as part of a larger trip to the Indo-Pacific region, the American Institute in Taiwan said.
“The bipartisan congressional delegation will meet with senior Taiwan leaders to discuss U.S.-Taiwan relations, regional security, and other significant issues of mutual interest,” it added.
Taiwan’s presidential office said Tsai would meet the three at Taipei’s downtown Songshan airport on Sunday morning, and expressed thanks for the show of support, especially at a time when the island is also dealing with its own rise in COVID-19 cases.
Taiwan has also complained about the CCP trying to block the island from accessing vaccines internationally, which Beijing has denied.
In recent months, the CCP has increased pressure on democratically-ruled Taiwan as it continues to advertise its intention to invade and take control, including regularly flying military aircraft into Taiwan’s air defense zone.
China routinely denounces visits of foreign officials to Taiwan, calling them an interference in China’s internal affairs under the CCP’s “One-China” policy, which is contested by Taiwan.
By Ben Blanchard. NTD staff contributed to this report
