By: Luis Zúñiga – Political analyst and former diplomat
Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen has left Americans with an impressive display of courage and determination on her recent trip to the Western Hemisphere, which included stops in New York and California.
His important meeting with the Speaker of the United States House of Representatives (USA), Kevin McCarthy, and other members of both parties in the US Congress was closely followed by the entire national press.
Upon receiving it, McCarthy called President Tsai “a great friend of the United States and said he was optimistic that they would continue to find ways for the people of Taiwan and the United States to work together to promote economic freedom, democracy, peace and stability.” .
For her part, Speaker Tsai welcomed the hospitality she called “warm” like the California sun and thanked the bipartisan congressional delegation, saying, “I am very pleased.”
Another important American political figure, the Secretary of State, Anthony Blinken, expressed his opinion on the visit of the Taiwanese president to the United States, referring to the issue in front of the press in Brussels: “There is nothing new in that a president of Taiwan passes for the USA”. And he added: “Beijing should not use it as an excuse to take action or escalate tensions.”
What is unquestionable is that US political leaders are showing their support for Taiwan and giving evidence that they do not allow themselves to be coerced or intimidated by threats from Beijing.
Other shows of support for Taiwan took place on President Tsai’s first stop in New York, en route to Guatemala and Belize. At the New York airport, she was received by the leader of the Democratic minority in Congress, Hakeen Jeffries. She also met with Republican Senators Joni Ernst and Dan Sullivan, and Democratic Senator Mark Kelly.
Following his meeting with Speaker Tsai, Congressman Jeffries issued a statement in which he said: “We had a very productive discussion about the security and economic interests of Taiwan and the US. We also discussed our shared commitment to freedom and democracy.”
This has been a very productive tour for Taiwan and its ties abroad. Not surprisingly, at the beginning of this journey, President Tsai had said at the Taipei airport: “External pressures will not prevent Taiwan from connecting with the world and with democracies of its own nature.”
He also reaffirmed his unwavering position that Taiwan will not back down and that friends in the US who support Taiwan will not back down either, and ended his opening remarks by stating: “Democratic allies should be more united and exchange more frequently.”
Taiwan appears to be a bulwark for the defense of democracy and freedoms in an increasingly aggressive world atmosphere with totalitarian overtones.
