The chairman of the US House of Representatives committee on China said Thursday that support in his country’s legislature for Taiwan was “extremely strong”, after a meeting with the self-ruled island’s top leadership.
Mike Gallagher heads a five-member delegation that met on Thursday with Taiwan’s President Tsai Ing-wen and Vice President Lai Ching-te, who won last month’s presidential election and will take office in May.
Gallagher, a vocal critic of China, said he believed US support for Taiwan would be unaffected by the result of his country’s 2024 presidential election.
He also warned Beijing against any attempt to invade Taiwan, adding that it would be incredibly foolish.
Meanwhile, Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Mao Ning condemned the US lawmakers’ visit as “interference”.
“I am very confident that support for Taiwan will continue regardless of who occupies the White House,” he said.
“If Xi Jinping and the Chinese Communist Party were to ever make the incredibly foolish decision to attempt an invasion of Taiwan… that effort would fail,” he said during the meeting with Lai.
