{"id":19677,"date":"2024-05-28T12:47:19","date_gmt":"2024-05-28T12:47:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/2024\/05\/28\/chinas-threats-naked-aggression-loom-large-as-house-lawmakers-meet-taiwans-new-president\/"},"modified":"2024-05-28T12:47:19","modified_gmt":"2024-05-28T12:47:19","slug":"chinas-threats-naked-aggression-loom-large-as-house-lawmakers-meet-taiwans-new-president","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/2024\/05\/28\/chinas-threats-naked-aggression-loom-large-as-house-lawmakers-meet-taiwans-new-president\/","title":{"rendered":"China\u2019s threats, \u2018naked aggression\u2019 loom large as House lawmakers meet Taiwan\u2019s new president"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Standing across from Taiwan\u2019s newly elected president on Monday, House Foreign Affairs Chairman Michael McCaul, R-Texas, drew a stark parallel between China\u2019s hostility toward the island and the tension that wracked the globe during World War II.<\/p>\n

\u2018All democracies must stand together against aggression and tyranny, whether it\u2019s [Vladimir Putin] and Russia, the ayatollah of Iran, or Chairman Xi next door to us in China \u2013 an unholy alliance is eroding peace around the world,\u2019 McCaul said. \u2018Not since World War II, my father\u2019s war, have we seen such blatant violence and naked aggression.\u2019<\/p>\n

The Texas Republican is leading a multi-day diplomatic trip to Taipei with a bipartisan coalition of House lawmakers. The group met with Taiwanese President Lai Ching-tse and Foreign Minister Jaushieh Joseph Wu on their first full day \u2013 the first U.S. delegation to meet with the new officials since they took office a little over a week ago.<\/p>\n

\u2018I gave them some updates on the weapons and some other things we\u2019re doing to help them, but they just wanted me to know that the threat was getting very intense from Chairman Xi,\u2019 McCaul told Fox News Digital after the meetings.<\/p>\n

Rep. Young Kim, R-Calif., chair of the Foreign Affairs panel\u2019s Indo-Pacific subcommittee, told Fox News Digital, \u2018I thought both meetings went very productively today, we had frank conversations.\u2019<\/p>\n

\u2018In all of our conversations, one thing was made very clear. Nobody wants conflict in the Taiwan Strait,\u2019 Kim said. \u2018Our goal is not to think about an invasion or a potential conflict, our goal is to ensure there is that deterrence by providing Taiwan what they need to protect themselves and defend themselves.\u2019<\/p>\n

The delegation is also made up of House Taiwan Caucus co-chair Rep. Andy Barr, R-Ky., as well as Reps. Joe Wilson, R-S.C., Jimmy Panetta, D-Calif., and Chrissy Houlahan, D-Pa.<\/p>\n

Both the Taiwanese and U.S. leaders made clear that China\u2019s aggression in the Indo-Pacific is creating an increasingly dire situation.<\/p>\n

It comes days after China encircled the island with dozens of warships and military planes as \u2018punishment\u2019 for Lai\u2019s advocacy for a free and independent Taiwan, according to Beijing\u2019s Defense Ministry.<\/p>\n

During his remarks to media after the lawmakers\u2019 meeting with Lai, Foreign Minister Wu darkly joked that China had \u2018welcomed\u2019 the U.S. delegation with its military drills.<\/p>\n

McCaul called it an \u2018intimidation tactic to punish democracy.\u2019<\/p>\n

\u2018They don\u2019t like democracy. I know Chairman Xi would often tell [Former Taiwanese President Tsai] that\u2026 democracy doesn\u2019t work. Democracy is dysfunctional, democracy is broken,\u2019 he said during the press conference. \u2018In his government, there is no freedom. There is no democracy. And the people have no power whatsoever.\u2019<\/p>\n

Referencing China launching military drills around the same time as his trip to Taiwan last year, McCaul quipped, \u2018I\u2019m starting to think it\u2019s me they don\u2019t like.\u2019<\/p>\n

Wu said of the lawmakers\u2019 visit, \u2018In this critical time, it\u2019s a powerful gesture. It\u2019s a powerful display of the strong bipartisan support for Taiwan by the United States.\u2019<\/p>\n

During his earlier remarks at the presidential office, Lai referenced former U.S. President Reagan\u2019s foreign policy of peace through strength.<\/p>\n

\u2018Therefore moving forward, I will enhance reform and bolster national defense, showing the world the Taiwanese People\u2019s determination to defend their homeland,\u2019 Lai said.<\/p>\n

The camaraderie between the U.S. lawmakers and Taiwanese officials was palpable during both meetings.\u00a0<\/p>\n

In a lighthearted moment before his remarks with Lai, McCaul modeled the American-made Stetson he brought as a gift for Lai. The two men shared a hug and handshake after the conclusion of their public remarks.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

This post appeared first on FOX NEWS<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Standing across from Taiwan\u2019s newly elected president on Monday, House Foreign Affairs Chairman Michael McCaul, R-Texas, drew a stark parallel between China\u2019s hostility toward the island and the tension that wracked the globe during World War II. \u2018All democracies must stand together against aggression and tyranny, whether it\u2019s [Vladimir Putin] and Russia, the ayatollah of <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":19678,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[25],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-19677","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-politics"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19677","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=19677"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19677\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/19678"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19677"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=19677"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=19677"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}