U.S. lawmakers visit Taiwan, President says stressed resolve

TAIPEI Reuters guests have reinforced Taiwan's resolve to defend itself, President Tsai Ing-wen said on Friday as she met the latest U.S. lawmaker to arrive on the island in defiance of Beijing.

China, which claims Taiwan as its own territory against the strong objections of the democratically elected government in Taipei, launched military drills near the island after U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi visited in early August.

About a week later, she was followed by five other lawmakers and late on Thursday, Sen. Marsha Blackburn touched down in Taipei.

Tsai met at the presidential office and praised the visits.

In recent times, many public figures from a broad spectrum of the U.S. society have visited Taiwan. She said these warm acts of kindness and firm demonstrations of support strengthened Taiwan's determination to defend itself, as well as in remarks carried live on Tsai's social media pages.

The United States, like most countries, has no formal diplomatic relations with Taiwan, but is bound by law to provide it with the means to defend itself.

Blackburn, a Republican from Tennessee who sits on the Senate Commerce and Armed Services committees, told Tsai that the United States and Taiwan shared the values of freedom and democracy.

She said that it is important that freedom-loving nations support Taiwan as they try to preserve their independence and freedom.

She was delighted to see Taiwanese semiconductor companies invest in the United States, and that fellow democracies have to work together to ensure more secure and resilient supply chains.

We look forward to working with the United States to strengthen cooperation on semiconductors and other high-tech sectors and respond to the economic challenges of the post-pandemic era. Taiwan is a major producer of chips, tight supplies of which have hit supply chains around the world.

Tsai said that Taiwan would like to be integrated into the Biden administration's new Indo-Pacific Economic Framework, which the island has been excluded from, and other regional economic cooperation architecture.

The U.S. legislators are not the only ones to visit. Tsai has also hosted two Japanese parliamentarians this week, and British and Canadian members of parliament are expected to be in place later this year.

It shows that Taiwan is not alone dealing with the big bullies across the Taiwan Strait, Taiwan Foreign Minister Joseph Wu told reporters at a separate event, referring to China.

Beijing has never ruled out using force to bring Taiwan under its control.

Taiwan's government says that the People's Republic of China has never ruled the island and has no right to claim it, and only 23 million people can decide their future.