WASHINGTON (AP) — Members of the U.S. House of Representatives on Wednesday pledged firm support for the self-governed island of Taiwan as they welcomed Han Kuo-yu, president of Taiwan’s Legislative Yuan, to Washington, at a time the Trump administration is reviewing a $14 billion arms sales package to Taiwan, months after it got preliminary congressional approval.More than 30 House representatives, both Democratic and Republican, streamed into the reception at the Longworth House Office Building to show their support, including Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi, D.-California; Rep. Michael McCaul, a Texas Republican and former chair of the House Foreign Affairs Committee; and Ted Lieu, a California Democrat who serves as the vice chair of the House Democratic Caucus.“I love Taiwan,” declared McCaul, as he welcomed Han. “It’s very important to me to say that the United States supports you, Mr. Speaker.”
“The support for Taiwan is bipartisan and bicameral — both houses, both parties,” Pelosi said. “It’s about peace. It’s also about commerce in terms of keeping the ships able to travel here.”
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Han, who is leading an eight-person parliamentary delegation, arrived in the nation’s capital on Tuesday night after a stop in Phoenix, Arizona, where the chipmaker Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. is building new fabs and producing advanced chips crucial to powering the A.I. boom. TSMC is the poster child of Taiwan’s importance to the U.S. economy. Han had earlier on Wednesday met U.S. senators, but the delegation refused to disclose any details except saying the reception by members of the U.S. House was indicative of how the senators received the Taiwanese group.
