United States Congresswoman Young Kim stated that every office of the lawmakers who visited Taiwan with her in May received messages from the Chinese government, demanding them not to land in Taiwan. However, she emphasized that she will not be intimidated by such scare tactics.
Young Kim is a Republican Congresswoman of Korean descent representing California’s 40th District, with a clear pro-Taiwan stance. On the 6th, in her capacity as Chair of the Indo-Pacific Subcommittee of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, she held a roundtable forum in Orange County, California titled “Global Connections, Local Impact: Why Taiwan is so Important to California.”
In an interview with the Central News Agency, Young Kim recalled her experiences of visiting Taiwan twice last year in April and this year in May, where she personally experienced the tense situation in the Taiwan Strait.
In May this year, the Chairman of the United States House Foreign Affairs Committee, Michael McCaul, led a delegation to Taiwan and met with President Tsai Ing-wen, with Young Kim as one of the delegation members.
Young Kim stated, “When we arrived in Taiwan, there were Chinese military aircraft in the sky, and Chinese vessels in the Taiwan Strait. This was China’s way of welcoming us, showing that they did not want American Congressional members to visit Taiwan. This tense situation was real, and we experienced it firsthand. But we were not scared by these scare tactics.”
In addition to the “welcome” by Chinese aircraft and vessels, Young Kim revealed that every Congress member visiting Taiwan received messages from the Chinese government.
She said, “My office received contacts from the Chinese government, not just me, but other colleagues received them too, whether in their district offices or in Washington, they demanded that our staff inform us not to land in Taiwan because it might violate a Chinese policy.”
However, Young Kim pointed out that these tactics did not affect their determination to visit Taiwan; “We visited Taiwan to support our ally and show our appreciation for Taiwan as a beacon of democracy. Our trip was to demonstrate America’s firm stance and emphasize the importance of the U.S.-Taiwan relationship.”
(Source: Central News Agency)