It is known that the head of Taiwan’s Legislative Yuan (Chairman of the National Assembly) visited the U.S. Capitol and discussed arms support plans for Taiwan with lawmakers. However, it was not disclosed who they met.
According to Bloomberg News on the 15th (local time), Taiwan Legislative Yuan Shikun Yu visited the U.S. Capitol and discussed the U.S. plan to provide 500 million U.S. dollars (about 660 billion won) in arms support to Taiwan. However, he did not specifically tell who he met with. Considering that the US House of Representatives Special Committee on Strategic Competition between the US and China has been discussing the 500 million dollar arms support for Taiwan, it is estimated that Yoo met with members of the special committee. It is also not confirmed whether or not he met the speaker of the US House of Representatives, Kevin McCarthy, who is a public hardliner.
Yu Si-kun, who has been head of the Legislative Yuan since February 2020, is a founding member of the Democratic Progressive Party (Democratic Party), Taiwan’s ruling party, serving as Executive Yuan (Prime Minister) from 2002 to 2005 and President of the Democratic Progressive Party from 2006 to 2007.
Legislative Director Yoo’s visit to the United States came as the Joe Biden administration prepared to invoke the Presidential Executive Authority (PDA) to transfer weapons to Taiwan without Congressional approval. Officials predicted that the Biden administration would approve the support this week at the earliest.
Currently, it is known that Taiwan is requesting the United States to deliver arms as soon as possible. This is because China is conducting intense military drills with the intention of actually invading Taiwan under the pretext of US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan in August last year and the meeting between US President Tsai Ing-wen and US House Speaker McCarthy early last month.
In response, Mike Gallagher, chairman of the US-China Strategic Competition Task Force, emphasized in a recent statement that “Taiwan needs to be fully armed to prevent a potential Chinese invasion.” He also added, “The United States must quickly implement the arms support promised with Taiwan,” adding, “In addition, we must strengthen our readiness posture by conducting joint military exercises between the two countries.”
China has been warning through state media that the US arms support plan will further turn Taiwan into a ‘powder keg’. There is also the possibility of a rough response to the discussion of arms support through the visit to the United States by Legislative Director Yoo.
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Source: Donga
Mark Jones is a world traveler and journalist for News Rebeat. With a curious mind and a love of adventure, Mark brings a unique perspective to the latest global events and provides in-depth and thought-provoking coverage of the world at large.