“Taiwan is our strongest partner in the Indo-Pacific Region. Regular high-level visits to Taipei are long-standing US policy,” Blackburn said in a statement. “I will not be bullied by Communist China into turning my back on the island.”
China,which claims Taiwan as its own territory against the strong objections of the democratically elected government in Taipei,launched military drills near the island after US House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi visited in early August.
Taiwan’s Foreign Ministry said Blackburn met with President Tsai Ing-wen on Friday and planned to meet with top security official Wellington Koo and Foreign Minister Joseph Wu during her trip,which ends on Saturday.
“The two sides will exchange views extensively on issues such as Taiwan-US security and economic and trade relations,” the ministry added in a brief statement.
Spokesman for China’s Embassy in Washington Liu Pengyu vowed that Beijing would take unspecified “resolute countermeasures” in response to what hecalled the US “provocations”.
“The relevant visit once again proves that the US does not want to see stability across the Taiwan Strait and has spared no effort to stir up confrontation between the two sides and interfere in China’s internal affairs,” Liu said in a statement.