Bipartisan lawmakers visit Taiwan amidst growing China threat.

House Armed Services Committee Members Return from Unannounced Conferencing in Guam, Taiwan, and the Philippines

Exciting news! Just days after proposing a $886 billion defense budget for Fiscal Year 2024, focused on countering China’s military threat in the Western Pacific, key members of the House Armed Services Committee are back in the United States. They completed a three-day unannounced conference with officials in Guam, Taiwan, and the Philippines.

Leading the bipartisan delegation of nine Congressional lawmakers was Committee chair Rep. Mike Rogers (R-Ala.). They visited Guam on June 27, spent June 27-28 touring Taiwan, and then held conferences with their counterparts in the Philippines on June 29.

Rogers’ visit to Taiwan is particularly significant, as he is the first sitting chair of the House Armed Services Committee to visit the country since 1979. This visit comes at a time when there are calls in Congress, especially from the Senate, to boost funding for Taiwan’s defense. This could be included in the Fiscal Year 2024 National Defense Authorization Act (FY24 NDAA) or a supplementary defense package to be introduced later this summer or fall.

The House and Senate armed services committees have already adopted their versions of the proposed FY24 NDAA. This sets the stage for floor adoptions, intra-chamber conferencing throughout the summer, and hopeful adoption by late September before the new fiscal year begins on Oct. 1.

Both chambers’ draft defense budgets prioritize defending Taiwan and countering the Chinese regime’s “pacing challenge” in the Western Pacific, as defined by the Pentagon.

Some key elements of the NDAA include a $9.1 billion Pacific Deterrence Initiative, a $500 million account for Taiwan to purchase American-made weapons and munitions, $108 million for defense articles and services to Taiwan, and regional force realignments to strengthen Guam, the U.S. territory located 3,000 miles east of China.

Rogers’ visit also coincides with efforts by the Biden administration and Chinese diplomats to stabilize the U.S.-China relationship. Despite their strategic competition, the two nations are also each other’s largest trading partners, highlighting the complexities of their relationship.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken visited Beijing in June, pledging to sustain better engagement going forward. U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen plans to visit China in July, and the new Chinese Ambassador to the United States, Xie Feng, has resumed routine communications with U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman.

Three-Days of Unannounced Conferencing

During their stop in Guam on June 27, the delegation, which included territorial Del. James Moylan (R-Guam), met with Gov. Lou Leon Guerrero. In Taiwan on June 27-28, they had meetings with President Tsai Ing-wen and Foreign Minister Joseph Wu.

In her welcoming remarks, President Ing-wen expressed gratitude for the delegation’s support for Taiwan-U.S. relations. She later tweeted a warm welcome to Rep. Mike Rogers, emphasizing Taiwan’s commitment to working with the United States to uphold peace and stability.