US congressional delegation makes surprise visit to Taiwan

Earlier this month, during a news conference in Tokyo, Biden said that the United States would intervene militarily if China attempts to take Taiwan by force. The warning appeared to deviate from the deliberate ambiguity traditionally held by Washington, though the White House quickly downplayed the comments, saying they don’t reflect a change in US policy.

Under the “One China” policy, the US acknowledges China’s position that Taiwan is part of China, but has never officially recognized Beijing’s claim to the self-governing island of 23 million. The US provides Taiwan defensive weapons, but has remained intentionally ambiguous on whether it would intervene militarily in the event of a Chinese attack.

China responded to the President’s strong warning by expressing “strong dissatisfaction and firm opposition” to Biden’s comments, saying it will not allow any external force to interfere in its “internal affairs.”

On Monday, Taiwan’s Ministry of National Defense said 30 Chinese warplanes made incursions into its air defense identification zone, or ADIZ, the highest daily figure in more than four months. In response, the Taiwanese military issued radio warnings and deployed air defense missile systems to monitor the activities, the ministry added.

But Taiwan and the United States could begin talks to deepen trade and economic ties “in a few weeks,” two senior Taiwanese government officials have told CNN.

Prior congressional trips

Duckworth’s visit follows her trip to Taipei in June 2021 when she announced that the US will donate 750,000 Covid-19 vaccines to Taiwan, when there was a lack of vaccines while local infections were on the rise.

CNN has reached out to Duckworth’s office to ask for comment on the senator’s current visit to Taiwan.

In April, a high-profile bipartisan congressional delegation composed of senators Lindsey Graham, a South Carolina Republican; Bob Menendez, a New Jersey Democrat; Richard Burr, a North Carolina Republican; Ben Sasse, a Nebraska Republican; Rob Portman, an Ohio Republican; and GOP Rep. Ronny Jackson of Texas arrived in Taiwan for a one-day surprise visit.