TPP chair leads delegation to U.S. for talks on arms procurement, tariffs

Taipei, Jan. 11 (CNA) A delegation led by opposition Taiwan People's Party (TPP) Chairman Huang Kuo-chang (黃國昌) on Sunday left for a brief trip to Washington, D.C., where it is scheduled to meet with U.S. government officials to discuss arms procurement and tariffs.

The "main purpose" of the trip is to discuss issues related to "arms procurement and high tariffs," Huang told reporters at Taoyuan International Airport on Sunday evening before boarding his flight.

"We hope to have very frank and sincere discussions," said Huang, who heads the third-largest party in Taiwan's Legislature, behind the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) and the main opposition Kuomintang (KMT).

He added that the four-member delegation aims to obtain "direct and reliable" information from the U.S. side while also conveying the Taiwanese public's shared concerns on those issues.

Huang did not name the agencies the delegation would visit or the officials it would meet, explaining that the details could not be made public at this time due to "mutual trust and understanding" with the U.S. side.

The trip came as a surprise to many, as it was not announced until the TPP briefed the press on it on Sunday afternoon. Huang said, however, that the visit had been arranged for "quite some time" after discussions with the U.S. side.

He said the delegation is expected to conclude its visit in Washington, D.C. on Monday afternoon (local time) after "a full day of meetings with government agencies", with a news conference planned after its return on Wednesday morning (Taipei time) to brief the public on the trip's outcomes.

Asked whether the visit was made at the invitation of Washington or initiated by the TPP, Huang did not answer directly but said the party had conveyed its concerns to the U.S. side on a range of issues and had expressed a desire for "direct, face-to-face communication."

On whether the trip could affect the TPP's future voting decisions on arms procurement, Huang said the matter "might not be as simple as you suggest," adding that it was the TPP's "inescapable responsibility" to help the administration make decisions that best serve Taiwan's interests and those of all Taiwanese people.