GOP Letter Urges Blinken to Visit Taiwan Before China

A group of Republican lawmakers is urging Secretary of State Antony Blinken to visit Taiwan as he travels to communist China.

The lawmakers, led by Rep. Tom Tiffany (R-Wis.), say that the stopover is necessary to demonstrate that China’s communist regime cannot dictate the terms of U.S. alliances and partnerships, according to a copy of the letter obtained by The Epoch Times.

“As you prepare for your trip to the People’s Republic of China, we are writing to once again request that you consider adding a stopover in Taiwan to your itinerary,” the letter says.

“It would send a clear message that the United States does not need a permission slip from the Chinese Communist Party to meet with our friends and allies in Taiwan—or anywhere else.”

The letter, which was also signed by Republican lawmakers Buddy Carter (Ga.), Dan Crenshaw (Texas), Byron Donalds (Fla.), Nancy Mace (S.C.), Andy Ogles (Tenn.), and Scott Perry (Penn.), further encourages Blinken to assuage both Taiwanese and American concerns about delays in shipments of weapons to the island.

Taiwan Key to US Security in Indo-Pacific

Asked about the letter, Tiffany said the Biden administration needed to increase engagement with Taiwan or else risk damaging vital U.S. interests in favor of appeasing China without apparent benefit.

“Taiwan is a key U.S. economic and security partner in the region,” Tiffany told The Epoch Times.

“Avoiding high-level coordination and communication to try and appease Beijing doesn’t reduce tensions in the region, it only encourages more Chinese bullying and brinksmanship.”

The issue of U.S. communications with Taiwan has been a sticking point in Sino-American relations since then-President Richard Nixon first visited China in 1972.

The Chinese Communist Party (CCP), which rules China as a single-party state, claims democratic Taiwan is part of its territory. The regime has never controlled any part of Taiwan, but CCP officials have nevertheless vowed to start a war to ensure the island’s de facto independence is not recognized internationally.

Since 1979, the United States has maintained an uncomfortable balance in its relations with China and Taiwan.

On the one hand, the United States formally recognizes but does not endorse the CCP’s claims to Taiwan. As such, it does not maintain formal ties with the island government, though it does have deep economic ties there.

On the other hand, the United States does maintain legal obligations to sell Taiwan the weapons it needs to defend its de facto independence from CCP aggression. Washington also maintains agreements with Beijing that neither side shall attempt to unilaterally change this status quo.

Despite the lack of formal ties, the United States and Taiwan have enjoyed robust informal dialogues for decades. Tiffany believes the Biden administration is overly eager to appease the CCP by slowing down such informal ties.

“It has been U.S. policy for many years to encourage and facilitate meetings between senior U.S. officials and their counterparts in Taiwan,” Tiffany said.

“By ignoring that policy and operating under outdated, self-imposed restrictions, the Biden administration is allowing the CCP to dictate who American leaders can and can’t talk to, and that is wrong.”

The letter also encourages Blinken to visit Taiwan to assuage any unease arising from U.S. failures to deliver weapons systems that the island has purchased.

There is currently a $14 billion backlog of weapons systems that Taiwan has purchased from the United States but has still not received. Some of those orders go as far back as 2019.

For Tiffany, a Blinken stopover in Taiwan would greatly ease Taipei’s worries and could go a long way in creating transparency for Taiwanese and American officials regarding what the Biden administration is doing to solve the problem.

Blinken Trip ‘Counterproductive and Dangerous’

Blinken is currently scheduled to meet with senior Chinese officials during a series of talks in Beijing on June 18 and 19. He will seek to reestablish regular communications between the United States and the CCP regime.

The visit is part of a larger effort by the Biden administration to erect guardrails around the two powers’ increasingly bitter competition, according to State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller.

“Intense competition requires intense and tough diplomacy to ensure that competition does not veer into confrontation or conflict, and that’s what we intend for this visit,” Miller said during a June 14 press briefing.

Miller added that Blinken would seek to achieve three broad