Congratulations to House Speaker Kevin McCarthy and Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen, who met on Wednesday in an historic meeting at the Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley, Calif. As it happens, former Speaker Nancy Pelosi offered a similar message of praise on Wednesday, underlining what has become a rare bipartisan consensus in American foreign policy.
About a dozen and a half Members of both parties attended the event, the first meeting on U.S. soil of a House Speaker with a Taiwan President. Mrs. Pelosi met Ms. Tsai last year in Taiwan, triggering a furious reaction from Beijing, which staged what looked to be the test of a military blockade around the island across the Taiwan Strait from mainland China.
Mr. McCarthy had considered his own visit to Taiwan, but he prudently held off and met Ms. Tsai on what has been called a “transit” stop during travel elsewhere in the Americas. Both leaders were careful not to be provocative, but the symbolism of the meeting demonstrated the growing political support for Taiwan as China has become more menacing.
“I believe our bond is stronger now than at any time or point in my lifetime,” Mr. McCarthy said at a joint press conference. “Today was a bipartisan meeting — Republicans and Democrats united together — in a place that symbolizes the freedom and the commitment and the bond that’s only become stronger with the President with us today.”
Ms. Tsai thanked the House Members. “Their presence and unwavering support reassure the people of Taiwan that we are not isolated and we are not alone,” she said. “In the discussion with Congressional leaders this morning, I reiterated Taiwan’s commitment to defending the peaceful status quo — where the people of Taiwan may continue to thrive in a free and open society.”
Her correct point is that China is the actor upsetting the political status quo in Taiwan by threatening to impose Communist rule on the democratic island. Taiwan wants to keep governing itself so it doesn’t end up like Hong Kong, where China reneged on its treaty promise to Britain of autonomy for 50 years.
The U.S. and Taiwan both need to do more, and urgently, to shore up the island’s defenses against a possible Chinese attack. But China has only itself to blame for growing bipartisan support for Taiwan in the U.S.
— Wall Street Journal
