GOP chairman warns of serious Chinese threat to Taiwan

The chairman of the House Select Committee on China, Rep. Mike Gallagher, has stated that the US must take the threat posed to Taiwan seriously. His comments follow Beijing's launch of military drills around the island after Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen's meetings with American lawmakers. Gallagher, who attended the meeting with Tsai, has said that he plans to lead his committee in working to strengthen the island's defenses, encouraging Congress to expedite military aid to Taiwan. China conducted drills with warships and dozens of fighter jets around Taiwan on Saturday, which the Taiwanese government said was viewed as retaliation for the meeting between the US lawmakers and the Taiwanese president. While both House Speaker Kevin McCarthy and Tsai spoke in measured remarks after the meeting about maintaining the status quo between their countries, the daylong meeting enraged China. The Chinese military announced the start of three-day “combat readiness patrols” as a warning to Taiwanese who want to make the island’s de facto independence permanent. China has condemned Tsai’s meetings with lawmakers and announced sanctions on two organizations that hosted her in the US, but its immediate response so far has been less forceful than its reaction to Pelosi’s August trip to Taiwan. Gallagher said that U.S. lawmakers will not be intimidated by China and that he wants Congress to work on stepping up its military commitments to Taiwan. One idea that arose from the meeting, he said, was for the US to help Taiwan with technology to manufacture its own defense systems.