US House Speaker arrives in Singapore today with congressional delegation

A United States congressional delegation led by Speaker of the House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi will visit Singapore from today to tomorrow.

The delegation will call on President Halimah Yacob and Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong and meet a number of Cabinet ministers, a spokesman for Singapore's Ministry of Foreign Affairs said yesterday.

Mrs Pelosi's office announced yesterday that she is leading a six-member congressional delegation to the Indo-Pacific region, including visits to Singapore, Malaysia, South Korea and Japan.

Mrs Pelosi said the visit seeks "to reaffirm America's strong and unshakeable commitment to our allies and friends in the region".

"In Singapore, Malaysia, South Korea and Japan, our delegation will hold high-level meetings to discuss how we can further advance our shared interests and values, including peace and security, economic growth and trade, the Covid-19 pandemic, the climate crisis, human rights and democratic governance," she added in a statement.

"Under the strong leadership of President (Joe) Biden, America is firmly committed to smart, strategic engagement in the region, understanding that a free and flourishing Indo-Pacific is crucial to prosperity in our nation and around the globe."

The visit to Singapore is the first by a congressional delegation in recent memory to be led by a House Speaker, who ranks third in order of protocol after the US president and vice-president.

It follows several high-level meetings between leaders on both sides, including Vice-President Kamala Harris' official visit to Singapore in August last year and PM Lee's working visit to Washington in March this year - during which he met President Biden and Ms Harris, and was hosted by Mrs Pelosi to a lunch with US congressional leaders.

PM Lee was also in Washington in May for the Asean-US Special Summit, where he met Mr Biden and Ms Harris, as well as Mrs Pelosi and other key members of Congress.

The other members of Mrs Pelosi's delegation are: Representative Gregory Meeks, chair of the House Foreign Affairs Committee; Representative Mark Takano, chair of the House Committee on Veterans' Affairs; Representative Suzan DelBene, vice-chair of the House Ways and Means Committee; Representative Raja Krishnamoorthi, a member of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence and chair of the Sub-committee on Economic and Consumer Policy of the House Committee on Oversight and Reform; and Representative Andy Kim, a member of the House Armed Services Committee and the House Foreign Affairs Committee.

Mrs Pelosi said the group includes champions of a strong US-Asia Pacific partnership, adding: "We look forward to productive meetings that will continue to inform Congress' work to advance our values and interests and strengthen our partnerships in the region."

She did not mention Taiwan in the statement. Speculation over a possible visit to the island had raised temperatures between the US and China recently.