The meeting comes as a major Taiwanese semiconductor plant in Phoenix is under construction.
By Ronald J. Hansen || The Arizona Republic
Sen. Mark Kelly was one of three senators with oversight of the military to quietly meet with Taiwan’s president last week to express support for the island’s security amid strained relations between the U.S. and China.
The hourlong meeting in New York also involved Sens. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, and Dan Sullivan, R-Alaska, and was ahead of President Tsai Ing-wen’s more controversial meeting Wednesday in California with House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif.
Kelly, D-Ariz., and Ernst and Sullivan are members of the Senate Armed Services Committee. Their meeting was first reported by the Wall Street Journal.
Tsai also reportedly visited with House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., as part of trip that also took her to Guatemala and Belize.
Kelly discussed the Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company’s planned $40 billion facilities in north Phoenix as a sign of deepening economic ties with the island.
Kelly was an advocate of legislation last year intended to help spur reshoring of those types of manufacturers, and President Joe Biden visited the TSMC facility in December.
“Taiwan is an important partner and it was an honor to meet with President Tsai Ing-wen to discuss our countries’ shared security and economic priorities, including the significant investment that the Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company has made to bring manufacturing to Arizona,” Kelly said in a written statement about the meeting.
