WASHINGTON (AP) — Two leading House Republicans are meeting with Taiwan’s Beijing-friendly opposition leader this week as she travels to Washington at a time when China is scrutinizing the Trump administration’s posture toward the self-ruled island it views as its own.House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Brian Mast, R-Fla., and Rep. Young Kim, R-Calif., are planning to sit down with Cheng Li-wun, leader of the Kuomingtang Party, who has supported a peaceful reunification of Taiwan with Beijing.Mast, in an interview, said he didn’t have specific expectations for his meeting with Cheng but said as the chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee, “I take intelligence from anywhere I can get.”A spokesperson for Kim, who leads a subcommittee overseeing East Asia policy, said the lawmaker plans to encourage Cheng and her party to support more defense spending because it would be an “important demonstration of Taiwan’s commitment to self-defense and deterrence.”
Taiwan’s opposition-controlled legislature last month passed a $25 billion special defense budget to fund major U.S. arms purchases. Trump administration officials expressed disappointment that the approved amount is a significant reduction from Taiwan President Lai Ching-te’s original $40 billion proposal.
