TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — US Senator Ruben Gallego of Arizona has headed a delegation to Taiwan where he met with President Lai Ching-te (賴清德) on Friday.
Gallego arrived on Thursday for a three-day visit and was welcomed by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The senator discussed regional security with Cabinet members and cooperation on critical technologies, per a press release.
TSMC has opened a new wafer manufacturing facility in Phoenix, Arizona. With the help of massive investments from Taiwanese tech firms, the state is set to become a major new hub for semiconductor manufacturing in the US.
During his meeting with Lai, Gallego thanked Taiwan for the warm reception and said he has great respect and deep feelings for Taiwan. Arizona is grateful for the scale of investment by Taiwanese firms and the state welcomes continued cooperation, he said.
Gallego commended Taiwan on its willingness to invest substantial amounts of funding to increase its self-defense posture, which he noted will create further opportunities for cooperation with the US. He also emphasized that support for Taiwan in US Congress is a bipartisan issue and the US will continue to work with Taiwan.
Lai and the foreign ministry thanked Gallego and the US Congress for their continued support of Taiwan. The president welcomed the recent conclusion of trade negations with the US and said it is a strategic partner for Taiwan.
The senator also made a visit to the Legislative Yuan, where he met with legislators from the ruling and opposition parties. Legislative Yuan Deputy Speaker Johnny Chiang (江啟臣) said given Taiwan’s major investments in US tech industries, he hopes to see increased cooperation between the US and Taiwan in AI, robotics, and drones.
During the meeting, some opposition legislators expressed concern about long delays affecting some arms package deliveries from the US to Taiwan, per a press release. In light of their mutual strategic interests, they urged Gallego to help address the matter.
Gallego previously visited Taipei in 2018 as a US representative and has regularly supported pro-Taiwan legislation and resolutions in Congress, per CNA. In another sign of expanding bilateral relations between Arizona and Taiwan, Phoenix Mayor Karen Gallego, Ruben’s ex-wife, also made a visit to Taipei in mid-January to discuss bilateral cooperation in critical tech industries.
