Earlier this year, I traveled to Taiwan along with four of my colleagues from the Select Committee on Strategic Competition between the United States and the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). There, our bipartisan delegation witnessed a thriving island democracy whose future will be closely bound up with our own.
In Taiwan, we met with President Tsai Ing-wen and President-elect William Lai and congratulated them on Taiwan's successful democratic election in January. We were honored to show our bipartisan support for these two inspiring leaders who are committed to strong U.S.-Taiwan ties and a peaceful and prosperous region.
We returned from our trip inspired to further deepen America's ties with Taiwan and even more concerned about the CCP's growing threat to the peace and prosperity of both Taiwan and the United States.
The most unequivocal message we heard during our visit was that a failure by the United States to support Ukraine against Russia's brutal and unprovoked invasion would embolden the CCP to undertake similar aggression against Taiwan and others in the region. Put differently, you cannot be strong on Taiwan but weak on Ukraine.
This is exactly what Republican leadership in the House of Representatives is doing with their refusal to bring the Biden administration's appropriations request for aid to Ukraine, Israel, and the Indo-Pacific to a vote despite the Senate passing it with strong bipartisan support. The $2 billion in foreign military financing for the Indo-Pacific and $1.9 billion to replenish weapons provided to Taiwan included in the Senate's bill appropriating funds for this request are particularly important to deter the CCP's aggression.
Our message to House leadership must be clear: The time to pass President Joe Biden's supplemental request is now.
During our visit, we also witnessed the importance of Taiwan's technology and trade for America's economic prosperity. From January to November last year, Taiwan's investment in the United States skyrocketed ninefold over the prior year, spurred by the People's Republic of China's stagnating economy, its growing aggression toward Taiwan, and incentives in the bipartisan CHIPS and Science Act to invest in the United States.
These investments are headlined by Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, the world's largest and most advanced chipmaker, which is investing $40 billion in new chip fabrication plants in Arizona over the next several years. Taiwan's semiconductors, including those produced in Taiwan and those that will be made in the United States, are indispensable for America's economic prosperity.
Taiwan is also a top U.S. trading partner. In 2022, Taiwan was the United States' ninth-largest trading partner in goods. Closer to home, Taiwan is my home state of Illinois' second-largest importer of corn and third-largest importer of soybeans.
The CCP is steadily dialing up its threats against Taiwan. Last year, CIA Director Bill Burns revealed that China's President Xi Jinping has instructed the CCP's military to be capable of invading Taiwan by 2027.
During our visit, we saw a firm commitment and sense of urgency from Taiwan's leaders and public to strengthening their self-defensive capabilities to deter a CCP attack from happening. America's defense cooperation with Taiwan is therefore more important than ever for keeping the peace in the region.
Americans do not want a Cold War or a hot war with the CCP. Rather, they hope for a future of peace and prosperity. That is why, unsurprisingly, polls show that Americans strongly support standing by Taiwan and deepening our partnership with this island economic powerhouse and beacon of democracy.
Moving forward, we must redouble our efforts to strengthen the U.S.-Taiwan partnership. This means urging the Senate to follow the House's lead in passing legislation to eliminate the double taxation burden on investments between Taiwan and the United States. It means deepening our defense cooperation, including exploring opportunities for co-producing key armaments like unmanned systems.
And it means cooperating with Taiwan on combating election interference. This year, people will be voting in over 60 countries making up half the world's population, including in the United States. With its transparent electoral process, robust fact-checking from civil society groups, and high voter turnout, Taiwan showed the world a model for how to conduct a free and fair election in an age where democracy is under increasing attack from authoritarians.
If we do these things, I am confident that we, along with our close friends in Taiwan, will successfully uphold peace, deter aggression, and ensure American and Taiwanese prosperity for decades to come.
Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi serves as ranking member of the House Select Committee on the Strategic Competition Between the U.S. and the Chinese Communist Party.
The views expressed in this article are the writer's own.
Uncommon Knowledge
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
