TAIPEI - The chairman of the US House of Representatives committee on China accused Beijing of “bullying” Taiwan, as he arrived on the self-ruled island on Feb 22 for talks with its leaders.

Mr Mike Gallagher heads a five-member delegation set to meet the island’s top leadership, including President Tsai Ing-wen and Vice-President Lai Ching-te, who won January’s presidential election and will take office in May.

“Time and again Taiwan has shown the world how to stand up to the CCP’s bullying and not only survive, but thrive,” Mr Gallagher said in a statement published by his committee, referring to the Communist Party of China.

The United States is Taiwan’s most important ally, and the island has been at the centre of tensions with China, which claims it as its territory and has not ruled out the use of force to bring it under Beijing’s control.

Mr Gallagher, a vocal critic of China, said he believed US support for Taiwan would be unaffected by the result of his country’s 2024 presidential election.

“I am very confident that support for Taiwan will continue, regardless of who occupies the White House,” he said.

He also warned Beijing against any attempt to invade Taiwan, saying to do so would be “incredibly foolish”.

“If Xi Jinping and the CCP were to ever make the incredibly foolish decision to attempt an invasion of Taiwan... that effort would fail,” he said during the meeting with Mr Lai.

On Feb 22, China condemned the US lawmakers’ visit as “interference”.

Earlier, President Tsai welcomed the US lawmakers, saying the visit demonstrated “staunch US support for Taiwan’s democracy through concrete action”.

“We will continue to advance our international partnerships and engage with the world. In 2024, we hope to see even more Taiwan-US exchanges in a range of domains,” she said.

The delegation will stay until Feb 24 as part of a larger visit to the region, the American Institute in Taiwan, Washington’s de facto embassy in Taipei, said in a statement.

Accompanying Mr Gallagher are US representatives Raja Krishnamoorthi, a Democrat from Illinois; John Moolenaar, a Republican from Michigan; Dusty Johnson, a Republican from South Dakota; and Seth Moulton, a Democrat from Massachusetts.

The delegation’s visit will focus on US-Taiwan relations, regional security and trade, among other issues, a committee statement said.

As with previous visits, Beijing condemned the US congressional delegation’s visit to Taipei, terming it “interference”.

“China always resolutely opposes any form of official exchange between the US and Taiwan authorities, and resolutely opposes the US’ interference in Taiwan affairs in any way or under any pretext,” Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning told a regular press conference.

In 2022, a visit to Taiwan by then US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi triggered China’s biggest-ever military exercises around the island, involving warships, missiles and fighter jets.

Relations between the US and China have been fraught for years, with tensions simmering over a gamut of issues, including trade, alleged espionage, human rights and foreign policy.

Tensions have eased markedly in the last year after a series of high-level meetings between US and Chinese officials.

In November, US President Joe Biden hosted his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping for a summit on the sidelines of an Asia-Pacific economic meeting, with the two agreeing to restore military communications.

Last week, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken met China’s top diplomat Wang Yi in Munich, with Russia’s war in Ukraine and US sanctions on Chinese companies on the agenda.

While the US does not formally recognise Taiwan, it is the island’s main ally and supplier of military equipment – a thorn in ties between Washington and Beijing.

The US State Department on Feb 21 authorised the sale of a US$75 million (S$100 million) advanced tactical data link system to Taiwan, according to a Pentagon statement.

Taiwan’s Defence Ministry welcomed the move, saying in a statement that “the US provides us with the means to enhance our ability to meet current and future threats”.

Ahead of his election win, Mr Lai, of the ruling Democratic Progressive Party, vowed to defend the island against China’s “intimidation”.

Beijing has called Mr Lai a “troublemaker” and a “separatist”, and reacted to his victory by warning against taking any steps towards formal independence, which the president-elect has said he opposed.

“If anyone on the island of Taiwan thinks of going for independence, they will be... trying to split China, and will certainly be harshly punished by both history and the law,” Mr Wang said at the time.

In the latest flare-up, Beijing on Feb 21 accused Taipei of “seeking to... hide the truth” about an incident where two Chinese nationals died following a confrontation between their fishing vessel and a Taiwanese coast guard boat in Taiwan-controlled waters. AFP