Congressional Delegation Visits Taiwan
One of Taiwan’s strongest advocates on Capitol Hill landed in Taipei this morning as part of a congressional delegation.
Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Roger Wicker is on a “fact-finding” trip to the Asia-Pacific that has already stopped in Hawaii, Guam, Tinian, Palau and the Philippines.
“We’re here to talk to our friends and allies in Taiwan about what we’re doing to enhance worldwide peace,” Wicker said at Taipei’s Songshan airport. “The kind of peace through strength that Ronald Reagan talked about.”
“We stand here to re-emphasize the partnership and the security friendship agreement that the United States has had with Taiwan for some decades.”
Wicker, a Republican, is traveling with Senator Deb Fischer, the second-highest ranking Republican on the committee.
“We live in the most dangerous national security moment since World War II,” Wicker told NewsNation before his departure. “Congress plays a vitally important role in reassuring U.S. allies and partners of our commitment to maintaining a favorable regional order in the Indo-Pacific.”
A spokesperson for China’s Ministry of National Defense said China strongly opposed any official engagement between Taiwan and the U.S.
The visit by the delegation, which yesterday met with President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. of the Philippines, comes as officials in Taipei fret about their relationship with U.S. President Donald Trump.
Earlier this month, Washington hit Taiwan with tariffs on 20% and rejected a stopover in New York by Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te (賴清德).
Trump and members of his administration have stated repeatedly Taiwan should be spending 10 percent of GDP on defense. Taiwan’s 2025 defense budget is less than 3% of GDP.
Trumps Blocks President Lai Stopover in New York
A planned visit by President Lai to Taiwan’s diplomatic allies in Latin America was cancelled after the Trump administration reportedly nixed Lai’s request to transfer flights in New York due to Chinese objections.
Lai wanted to stop in New York and Dallas this month en route to Paraguay, Guatemala and Belize, three of 12 states that recognize Taiwan as a country.
Then-President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) transited in New York in 2019 and 2023.
Trump administration officials say they would have approved Lai’s trip if he had transferred only in Dallas.
New York Politicians Targeted for Meeting With Then-President Tsai
A New York Times investigation published this week detailed how the Chinese government works with diaspora organizations in New York to sway elections and influence policy, including punishing local politicians for meeting with the Taiwanese president.
State Senator John Liu told The New York Times that “intermediaries” for the Chinese Consulate contacted his office after he met with President Tsai in 2019 and “made it clear that they felt it was inappropriate for me to attend that event.”
Hometown associations, social clubs whose members hail from the same town or province in China, disinvited Liu to their banquets.
The Chinese consulate also worked with hometown associations and Chinatown gangster John Chan to unseat State Senator Iwen Chu after she attended a banquet with President Tsai in 2023.
Chu, a Democrat, was defeated in November’s election by Steve Chan, a Hong Kong-born Republican and Air Force veteran. She was the only state senator to lose her seat in that election.
Both Liu and Chu were born in Taiwan.
Taiwanese Troops Train in Michigan
China lashed out this week over reports that more than 500 Taiwanese troops trained this month in the U.S. in Northern Strike, an annual military exercise sponsored by the Michigan National Guard and attended by nearly every U.S. military service.
“The DPP authorities’ attempt to ‘seek independence by relying on external forces’ and ‘resist reunification with arms’ is a sheer overestimation of their own strength and will only lead them to a dead end,” Zhu Fenglian (朱鳳蓮), a spokesperson for the State Council Taiwan Affairs Office, was quoted as saying in state media Global Times.
This year’s Northern Strike exercise in Michigan shifted from a European operation to an Indo-Pacific scenario, with more focus on maritime drills.
U.S. military news daily Stars and Stripes broke the initial story, attributing the information to a Michigan National Guard official who spoke at an August 4 briefing. A slide at the briefing indicated that Taiwan has been sending troops to the exercise since at least 2021, according to the report.
Former U.S. diplomat Joseph Cella told a House hearing on the Chinese Communist Party in 2024 that Taiwanese troops had been training “in strategic and tactical battle operations” in Michigan.
Federal charges were filed against five Chinese nationals studying at the University of Michigan who photographed the Northern Strike exercise in 2023.
The University of Michigan ended its two-decade partnership with Shanghai Jiao Tong University, whom the Chinese students were affiliated with, after the incident.
Taiwan Open to Restoring Diplomatic Relations With Honduras
Taiwan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said it would be interested in restoring ties with Honduras, after opposition candidates in Honduras’s upcoming presidential election said they would restore relations with Taiwan if elected.
Honduras has experienced a 67% drop in shrimp exports and lost over 14,000 jobs since Tegucigalpa recognized Beijing as the “only legitimate government that represents all of China” and that Taiwan is an “inseparable” part of Chinese territory in 2023.
Presidential candidate Nasry Asfura of the National Party said that Honduras was “100 times better off” when it was allied with Taipei.
Pope Leo Prays for Typhoon Victims
The Pope offered his prayers for Taiwan and the Vatican donated $50,000 after Typhoon Danas ravaged the southern part of the island in July.
“Pope Leo XIV has been informed of the victims and damage caused by Typhoon Danas in Taiwan. He is praying for those affected and has instructed the Office of Papal Charities to provide concrete aid to the population,” said Matteo Bruni, director of the Holy See Press Office.
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