Member-only story
Why did recent US politicians visit Taiwan or meet Taiwan leaders?
Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen and US House Speaker Kevin McCarthy recently met in California in a show of democratic solidarity in defiance of threats from China. This is following the 2022 visit of Nancy Pelosi, Mr. McCarthy’s predecessor, to Taiwan.
The relationship between Taiwan and the US has been a topic of discussion in recent years, particularly with the election of Tsai Ing-wen in 2016. The US has long employed a policy of “strategic ambiguity” over Taiwan, declining to explicitly state how Washington would respond to a Chinese invasion of the island. However, the White House under President Biden has denied any change in US policy towards Taiwan. While during Nancy Pelosi’s Taiwan visit, the Democratic House speaker said that the US would “not abandon” Taiwan and that China would “not stand in the way” of people coming to visit the island.
Why did US politicians, especially members of Congress, visit Taiwan in recent years, disregarding the escalated brewing tensions between Beijing and Washington? The most immediate reason is for the election purpose. Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan in July 2022 was in good timing to show support for Taiwan’s democracy despite China’s threats of retaliation over the visit. By taking a stance supporting democracy, the Democratic House speaker was trying to…
