Rep. Mike Rogers, R-Ala., speaks through the House Republicans press convention on the U.S. navy withdrawal from Afghanistan within the Rayburn Room within the U.S. Capitol on Tuesday, August 31, 2021.
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WASHINGTON — A bipartisan congressional delegation led by House Armed Services Committee Chairman Mike Rogers landed in Taiwan on Tuesday for a 3 day visit, according to the American Institute in Taiwan.
The Alabama Republican was joined on the journey by a number of members of the committee, together with its rating member, Adam Smith, D-Wash., as properly as a number of committee members and different lawmakers.
The delegation will meet with President Tsai Ing-wen on Wednesday, in accordance to the Taiwanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
The visit comes at a sensitive time for America’s relationship with China, its largest buying and selling associate and strategic competitor in political, financial and safety arenas.
Taiwan is on the center of a broader effort by Washington to include China’s navy and diplomatic enlargement all through the Indo-Pacific. Taiwan is a self-ruling democracy, however China views Taiwan as a province of the Chinese mainland. Beijing considers any try by Taiwan’s leaders to act independently of Beijing as a menace to Chinese sovereignty.
Who’s within the congressional delegation to Taiwan
- Rep. Mike Rogers, R-Ala., chairman of the House Armed Services Committee
- Rep. Adam Smith, D-Wash., rating member of the House Armed Services Committee
- Rep. Jill Tokuda, D-Hawaii
- Rep. Cory Mills, R-Fla.
- Rep. John Garamendi, D-Calif.
- Rep. Joe Courtney, D-Conn.
- Rep. David Rouzer, R-N.C.
- Rep. Gary Palmer, R-Ala.
- James Moylan, Republican, Guam’s delegate to the House
Rogers’ journey to Taiwan marks not less than the third time this yr that members of Congress have made public journeys to the island, however the first time Rogers has carried out so.
The incontrovertible fact that Rogers chairs the committee charged with funding and oversight of the U.S. navy possible will not be misplaced on Beijing or Taipei.
A spokeswoman for the House Armed Services Commitee declined to touch upon the journey.
Congressional visits to geopolitically delicate areas like Taiwan are usually stored underneath wraps till the delegation arrives, and any public feedback in regards to the journey are often reserved till after it’s over.
Rogers’ visit to Taipei comes as the Biden administration is taking a number of steps aimed toward stabilizing the bilateral relationship with China, which reached a low level in February, after the United States shot down a Chinese surveillance balloon.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken visited Beijing in June, a visit that was initially scheduled for February, however postponed in response to the spy balloon dustup.
At that time, “the relationship was at a degree of instability, and either side acknowledged the necessity to work to stabilize it,” Blinken mentioned at a information convention on the finish of his June visit.
“My hope and expectation is: we can have higher communications, higher engagement going ahead,” he added.
Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen reportedly plans to visit China in July, Bloomberg News reported this week. The Treasury Department declined to touch upon her journey plans.
But whereas visits by senior Biden administration officers to China might assist normalize the U.S.-China relationship, visits like Rogers’ delegation to Taiwan have a tendency to have the other impact.
Anti-China sentiment is way extra seen on Capitol Hill, the place it is likely one of the few points on which each events agree, than it’s within the White House, the place U.S. commerce pursuits and the necessity to avoid military conflict are increased priorities.
Beijing has not but commented on the journey. A spokeswoman for the National Security Council didn’t instantly reply to a request for touch upon the congressional visit.