US Senator Rick Scott arrived in Taiwan yesterday afternoon for a two-day visit.
Scott, who serves on the US Senate Committee on Armed Services, is the seventh US senator to visit Taiwan this year.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement that the Republican senator from Florida was greeted by Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Tien Chung-kwang (田中光).
Photo: REUTERS
Scott is scheduled to meet with President Tsai Ying-wen (蔡英文) and Premier Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) during his visit, the ministry said, adding that Minister of Foreign Affairs Joseph Wu (吳釗燮) was to host a banquet to welcome him.
Scott would also have a videoconference with Bureau of Foreign Trade Director-General Yang Jen-ni (楊珍妮), who is also deputy trade representative of the Office of Trade Negotiation, the ministry said.
The American Institute in Taiwan said that Scott’s visit was “part of a larger visit to the Indo-Pacific region.”
“The senator will meet with senior Taiwan leaders to discuss US-Taiwan relations, regional security, trade and investment, global supply chains, and other significant issues of mutual interest,” the institute said.
Scott, who served as Florida governor from 2011 to 2019, has proposed several Taiwan-friendly bills in the senate, including the draft Taiwan invasion prevention act and the draft deterring communist Chinese aggression against Taiwan through financial sanctions act, the ministry said.
The senator in May cosigned a letter penned by the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, calling on US President Joe Biden to include Taiwan in the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework, it said, adding that he has been supporter of a bilateral trade agreement between Taiwan and the US.
Scott visited the Taiwan Representative Office in Lithuania in April, becoming the first US senator to visit it, the ministry said.
In the same month, US senators Lindsey Graham, Bob Menendez, Richard Burr, Ben Sasse and Rob Portman, as well as US Representative Ronny Jackson, visited Taiwan and met with national security officials.
Another delegation led by US Senator Tammy Duckworth visited Taiwan in late May.
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