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TAIPEI: Recent visits by guests from the United States have reinforced Taiwan’s determination to defend itself, President Tsai Ing-wen said on Friday (Aug 26) as she met the latest US 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 US 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, Senator Marsha Blackburn touched down in Taipei.
Meeting at the presidential office, Tsai praised the visits.
“In recent times, many public figures from a broad spectrum of US society have visited Taiwan. These warm acts of kindness and firm demonstrations of support have reinforced Taiwan’s determination to defend itself,” she said, 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.
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