Xu Youdian, Director of the North American Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

(Photo by reporter Yang Chengyu)

[Reporter Yang Chengyu/Report from Taipei] The Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, Kevin McMarthy, is friendly to Taiwan and has frequently made moves against China since taking office.

Asked whether my country's representative office in the United States had ever visited McCarthy, Xu Youdian, director of the North American Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, responded today (31) that my country's representative office in the United States has always had good interaction and close contact with McCarthy's office; After the chairman of the house, there is also a formal congratulation.

As for whether the two sides have met, according to the practice of Taiwan-US exchanges, even if there is, it is inconvenient to explain to the public here.

As for when McCarthy will visit Taiwan, Xu Youdian said that he has not received relevant information so far.

In addition, Adm. Philip Davidson, the former commander of the US Indo-Pacific Command, arrived in Taiwan yesterday by plane from Japan. Xu Youdian said that the first visiting group after the Lunar New Year is the former US Indo-Pacific Commander Adm. Davidson leading the US think tank "National A delegation from the Bureau of Asian Research (NBR) visited.

The delegation was invited by the Chinese government to visit Taiwan from the 30th of this month to the 4th of February. The members of the delegation included Tami Overby, senior Asia-Pacific consultant of the Albright Stone Bridge Group, and James Schoff, senior director of the Sasakawa Peace Foundation. ), April Herlevi, a non-resident research fellow of the National Bureau of Asian Research, Alison Szalwinski, the vice president of research, and Rachel Bernstein, a senior project manager, are experts on Asia-Pacific issues.

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Xu Youdian said that during their stay in Taiwan, the delegation will meet with President Tsai, receive a banquet from Foreign Minister Joseph Wu, and call on Secretary-General Gu Lixiong of the National Security Council, the Ministry of National Defense, the Ministry of Economic Affairs, the Mainland Affairs Council, the Academy of National Defense and Security, and the Democratic Party of Taiwan. Foundation, extensive exchanges on issues such as the Taiwan Strait and regional situation.

Xu Youdian said that the members of the delegation are highly concerned about the security situation in the Taiwan Strait and have a background in security and Indo-Pacific research. This visit shows the importance that American think tanks and academic circles attach to the Indo-Pacific security situation. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs sincerely welcomes this.

In the new year, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs will continue to deepen exchanges and interactions with American think tanks and academic circles, so as to encourage friends from all walks of life in the United States to deepen their knowledge and understanding of Taiwan.

In addition, Admiral Mike Minihan, commander of the U.S. Air Force Mobility Command (AMC), pointed out that since both Taiwan and the United States will hold presidential elections in 2024, he predicted that Chinese President Xi Jinping would take advantage of the opportunity to launch an attack, which would make the U.S., China A war will break out between them in 2025.

In this regard, Xu Youdian responded that in the face of China's provocative behavior that constantly changes the status quo, the United States and related countries with similar ideas have successively expressed concern about this behavior and the threat to democratic values.

In addition to calling on all countries to continue to jointly condemn, our government will also try its best to strengthen self-defense capabilities, strengthen the Taiwan-US security partnership, and cooperate with all like-minded countries to curb China's attempt to change the status quo of the Taiwan Strait and safeguard the Taiwan Strait and the Indo-Pacific region. of peace and stability.