"US Lawmakers Hid Taiwan Visit Schedule During South Korea Trip Out of Consideration for Korea"

China Expected to Pressure Korea... Considering Korea's Position Amid US-China Conflict

Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen (third from the right) is meeting with an unofficial delegation sent by U.S. President Joe Biden in Taipei, Taiwan, on April 15 (local time). [Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Suhwan] When a group of U.S. senators visited Korea in June this year, it is reported that they did not inform the Korean government of their Taiwan visit schedule due to concerns that China might pressure Korea.

According to the U.S. Newsweek on the 11th (local time), U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth (Democrat, Illinois) revealed this behind-the-scenes story at an event hosted by the U.S. think tank Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) on the 10th.

Three senators, Duckworth, Dan Sullivan (Republican, Alaska), and Christopher Coons (Democrat, Delaware), came to Korea on June 5th, then visited Taiwan for three hours the next day before returning to Korea.

Senator Duckworth explained the circumstances, saying, "There was no commercial flight to Taiwan, so it was uncertain whether we could go. The U.S. government agreed with our opinion and actually sent a military plane, which flew from a military base in Korea to Taiwan."

She also explained that the Taiwan visit was a rushed, quick stopover schedule.

Duckworth stated, "Because of us, Korea could have been pushed into a very difficult situation with China, so we didn't even tell Korea that we were going to Taiwan."

She added, "We drove for two hours to the military base, flew to Taiwan on a military plane, stayed for three hours without leaving the airport, and then left."

At that time, Taiwanese media reported that they left Osan Air Base around 5 a.m., arrived in Taiwan at 7:19 a.m., stayed for about three hours, and returned to Korea around 10:30 a.m.

Newsweek commented that due to the senators' silence, the Korean government seemed to have gained grounds to persuasively argue against China.

China has shown strong resistance to foreign moves that formalize relations with Taiwan under the "One China" diplomatic principle, which denies Taiwan's status as an independent country.

In particular, China has been sensitive to the extent of viewing visits by U.S. diplomatic envoys, perceived as a global hegemon, to Taiwan as interference in internal affairs.

The U.S. military plane's official landing in Taiwan was the first in 40 years, attracting significant attention and provoking China.

Especially, the U.S. Senate delegation promised at a press conference at Songshan Airport to donate 750,000 doses of COVID-19 vaccines to Taiwan.

The U.S. and China are in conflict over influence on Taiwan, and at that time, Taiwan had rejected China's vaccine supply offer.

Senator Duckworth said, "The vaccine donation completely changed everything in terms of the morale of the Taiwanese people," adding, "The Taiwanese realized they were not abandoned."

At that time, Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen met the U.S. Senate delegation at Songshan Airport and said Taiwan would forever remember the U.S. support.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.