US media reported that former US vice president Mike Pence arrived in Taiwan yesterday, where he is to meet with President William Lai (賴清德) and Vice President Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴).
Pence met with tech leaders this morning, and is to attend other events later in the day in Taipei, including a dinner reception at Taipei Guest House, The Hill reported today.
He was previously in Hong Kong to attend a business forum.
Photo: AFP
The news outlet cited a source familiar with the matter as saying that Pence decided to add the stop in Taipei to “see for himself.”
Pence also wants to remind Taiwanese that the US is an ally that “won’t allow what’s happened to Hong Kong to happen to Taiwan,” it added.
A spokesperson for Advancing American Freedom, Pence’s advocacy group, did not respond to The Hill’s request for comment.
In August last year, Pence wrote an op-ed for the Washington Post that warned of a “new and troubling strain of isolationism” in the US Republican Party “that advocates turning our backs on Taiwan and other allies.”
Since leaving office in 2021, he has been active in calling for the US to remain engaged internationally, and has traveled to places including Ukraine and Israel.
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