TAIPEI (Taiwan News) - Senator Ted Cruz said Wednesday he hoped he could see President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) visit Washington, D.C. and hold a speech before Congress.

According to the Taiwan Travel Act passed last year, high-level exchanges between Taiwan and the United States have become possible. Earlier unconfirmed reports said Tsai might be stopping over in New York on the way to Taiwan’s Caribbean allies later this year.

Cruz said he wrote a letter to the speaker of the House of Representatives, California Democrat Nancy Pelosi, asking her to invite Tsai to Washington and to Congress, the Central News Agency reported.

During a speech at the American Enterprise Institute, Cruz described Taiwan as a friend and an ally of the U.S. and said Washington should defend the island against threats.

The Texas Republican, who co-authored the Taiwan Travel Act, also mentioned he had met Tsai during a stopover in his state, even though China had written him a letter dissuading him from holding the meeting.

If you compared democratic Taiwan to authoritarian China, it was clear which side was a success, according to Cruz, who also accused Beijing of trying to choke the island with its One China policy, CNA reported.