U.S. representative Mike Gallagher to lead Taiwan delegation next week: FT

Taipei, Feb. 14 (CNA) U.S. Representative Mike Gallagher, who chairs the House select committee on competition with China, will visit Taipei next week along with a group of lawmakers, according to the Financial Times.

The Financial Times reported on Wednesday that the visit is planned as a show of support for the Democratic Progressive Party's (DPP) president-elect Lai Ching-te (賴清德) ahead of his May inauguration.

The Republican lawmaker from Wisconsin will arrive in Taiwan on Feb. 21, according to three people familiar with the matter, including two Taiwanese officials, the report said.

He will lead a delegation of seven lawmakers, the report added.

According to the Financial Times' source, Gallagher's delegation is also expected to visit Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜), the Kuomintang's (KMT) Legislative Speaker elected on Feb. 1.

Gallagher's office did not respond to the Financial Times' request for comment. But the media outlet said he recently confirmed during a podcast show that he planned to visit Taiwan this spring.

Gallagher, a House member since 2017, announced last Saturday that he would not be seeking re-election, saying in a statement that the authors of the U.S. Constitution had not intended individuals to hold elective office for a lifetime.

He has been the chair of the House Select Committee on the Strategic Competition Between the United States and the Chinese Communist Party since its establishment in January 2023. The committee is a bipartisan panel aiming to build consensus on the threat posed by the Chinese Communist Party and develop strategies to help the U.S. compete with China.

Gallagher and the committee have been vocal in supporting Taiwan, particularly as the Chinese military has maintained its assertive stance around the island, according to the report.

The Chinese embassy in Washington told the Financial Times that Beijing "firmly opposes the U.S. having any form of official interaction with Taiwan and interfering in Taiwan affairs in any way or under any pretext."

Asked about the possible visit, Taiwan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs told CNA that the ministry has always welcomed trips to Taiwan by U.S. lawmakers wanting to show their support, adding that it will make relevant information public "at an appropriate time."