A group of Congressional Republicans is calling on US officials to reaffirm that American support for Taiwan is “non-negotiable” during a meeting with their Chinese counterparts on Friday.
US officials, including Secretary of State Antony Blinken, held their first in-person meeting with Chinese officials since the start of the Biden administration in Alaska Friday.
The letter, signed by 20 Republican members of the US House of Representatives, takes a hard line against China. It criticizes aggressive Chinese actions in the South China Sea and in the wider Indo-Pacific region, including along China’s border with India. It also hits out at China’s genocide of Uyghurs in Xinjiang, its attacks on democracy in Hong Kong, its militarization of the Taiwan Strait, and its use of economic power to force weaker countries to alter their economic relationship with the US.
The letter goes on to call Taiwan a reliable trade partner and firm ally of the US. It says that the US should resist Chinese attacks on democracy and should make clear that there is no room for discussion when it comes to US support for Taiwan.