A U.S. Congressional delegation, led by Senators Lindsey Graham (R-SC) and Bob Menendez (D-NJ), used its “unannounced” visit to Taiwan April 14-15, to issue threats to mainland China for “bullying” Taiwan and for supporting Russia’s special military operation in Ukraine. The Chinese Foreign Ministry harshly denounced the provocative trip as a violation of the One China policy, while the People’s Liberation Army today carried out air and naval training maneuvers near Taiwan, responding to what it said were “wrong signals” from the U.S. The spokesman for the Eastern Theater Command, Shi Yi, warned that the military would remain on high alert “to safeguard national security and regional peace,” Bloomberg reported today.
Prior to arriving in Taiwan, the delegation, which also included Republican Senators Robert Burr (VA), Ben Sasse (NE) and Rob Portman (OH), had visited Australia and Japan, where according to Yahoo News, Graham and Menendez told Sky News they were pushing for a greater U.S. military presence in Australia and warned of the dangers of the Solomon Islands falling under Chinese control, should they allow China to build a military base there. But in a meeting with Taiwan’s “president” Tsai Ing-wen today, Graham really let loose, vowing that “we are going to start making China pay a greater price for what they are doing all over the world. The support for Putin must come with a price. The never-ending cyberattack on your economy and people by the Communist Chinese needs to come with a price.”
