TAIPEI: US Senator Roger Wicker, the chairman of the powerful Senate Armed Services Committee and one of the strongest advocates for Taiwan in the US Congress, arrived in Taipei on Friday to discuss security at a time of a rising threat from China.
Wicker, a Republican, said he and Senator Deb Fischer were visiting to reinforce and emphasize the “great partnership” the United States and Taiwan had and would have in the future. Fischer is also a Republican and a member of the armed services committee.
“We’re here to talk to our friends and allies in Taiwan about what we’re doing to enhance worldwide peace, the kind of peace through strength that Ronald Reagan talked about,” he told reporters at Taipei’s downtown Songshan airport, referring to the late US president.
“We stand here to re-emphasize the partnership and the security friendship agreement that the United States has had with Taiwan for some decades.”
The US Senate is due to consider next week the National Defense Authorization act, or NDAA, a nearly $1 trillion bill that sets policy for the Pentagon.
