US will keep helping Taiwan in its self-defence, senator says in Taipei

TAIPEI – The US will continue to assist Taiwan with its self-defence and wants to see peace across the Taiwan Strait without coercion or the threat of force, a visiting US senator told President Lai Ching-te on April 18.

The US is Taiwan’s most important international backer and arms supplier despite the lack of formal diplomatic ties with the Chinese-claimed island.

Meeting Mr Lai at the presidential office in Taipei, the Republican Senator Pete Ricketts said that although administrations change, the bipartisan support for Taiwan in Congress continued.

“The United States is committed to peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific. We want to see peace across the Taiwan Strait. We oppose any unilateral change in the status of Taiwan,” Mr Ricketts said.

“We expect any differences between Taiwan and (China) to be resolved peacefully without coercion or the threat of force,” he added.

“To that end, the United States will continue to assist Taiwan in its self-defence. There is broad consensus in the US Congress to support Taiwan’s self-defence.”

China held its latest round of

war games around Taiwan earlier in April

. Mr Lai and his government reject Beijing’s sovereignty claims, saying only the island’s people can decide their future.

Mr Ricketts is the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee’s Subcommittee on East Asia, the Pacific, and International Cybersecurity Policy.

Mr Lai said that he looked forward to Taiwan and the US continuing to work together to maintain peace and stability in the region, and that Taiwan was committed to spending more on its defence.

Mr Ricketts is being accompanied in Taiwan by another Republican senator, Mr Ted Budd, and the Democrat Senator Chris Coons.

While

US lawmakers regularly travel to the island

, this is the first visit since US President Donald Trump took office in January.

Mr Trump and his administration have pushed Taiwan to ramp up its defence spending, something Mr Lai previously pledged to do in February. REUTERS