US-Taiwan: Why are so many Congressmen heading for Taipei? - BBC News

Representative Mike Gallagher, head of the House's China committee, is the latest one to make the trip

13 hours agoShareclose panelShare pageCopy linkAbout sharingImage source, EPAImage caption, Protesters ahead of Nancy Pelosi's visit in 2022By Rupert Wingfield-HayesBBC News, Taiwan"How would you like it if we started sending official delegations to Honolulu to meet with separatist leaders who want Hawaiian independence from the United States? What would you do if we started selling them weapons?"

It might seem like a false equivalence, but this is a line of argument often deployed by China's legion of armchair warriors, who take to social media to condemn any visit to Taiwan by US government officials - and especially members of the US Congress. China sees self-ruled Taiwan as a breakaway province that will eventually be under Beijing's control, and so, to these social media users, such visits are an unacceptable provocation and interference in China's internal affairs.

Of course, these visits - like the one being made by Representative Mike Gallagher, head of the US House's China committee, this week - are viewed very differently in Washington and Taipei, which sees itself as distinct from the Chinese mainland, with its own constitution and democratically-elected leaders.

But it does raise the question, what is their purpose? Are they a genuine show of support that helps deter China - or are they publicity stunts that serve to provoke Beijing, and solidify the view that Washington is intent on the permanent separation of Taiwan?

The visits are not without consequence. How the US handles its relationships with Beijing and Taipei will do much to determine whether the current tense stalemate across the Taiwan Straits remains that way, or gets a lot worse.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-68346855

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