U.S. congressional group visits Taiwan, to meet with President Lai

Taipei, April 16 (CNA) A delegation led by U.S. Senator Pete Ricketts will meet with President Lai Ching-te (賴清德) and other top government officials to discuss regional security, trade and investment and other issues during their visit to Taiwan from Wednesday to April 19.

The congressional delegation will engage in a series of high-level meetings with senior Taiwan leaders to discuss bilateral relations, regional security, trade and investment, and other issues of mutual interest, the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) said in a news release on Wednesday.

The group is scheduled to meet with Lai and attend banquets hosted by Vice President Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴) and Foreign Minister Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍), Taiwan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) said in a separate statement.

The bipartisan group is led by Ricketts (R-NE), chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee's Subcommittee on East Asia, the Pacific, and International Cybersecurity Policy, and includes Senators Chris Coons (D-DE) and Ted Budd (R-NC).

The visit "underscores the United States' commitment to its partnership with Taiwan and reaffirms our shared commitment to strengthening a free and open Indo-Pacific," the AIT said.

Meanwhile, MOFA described the three senators as placing great importance on Taiwan-U.S. relations and said Taiwan looks forward to working closely with friends in both the U.S. executive and legislative branches to further deepen the bilateral partnership.