TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — US Senator Ted Cruz expressed support for Taiwan at an event on Sunday.
“I believe we should stand resolutely with Taiwan,” Cruz said, adding that “bullies and tyrants don’t respect weakness,” according to the Houston Chronicle.
Cruz said the US should not hold back military support from Taiwan to curry favor with China. US President Donald Trump said in a Fox News interview last week that a NT$442.68 billion (US$14 billion) arms package was “a very good negotiating chip.” Trump said Chinese leader Xi Jinping discussed arms sales to Taiwan with him during their meeting in Beijing.
However, Cruz said Xi is America’s top global threat, per the Houston Chronicle. “Look, I have said from the very first days I was elected to the Senate that countering the Chinese communists is the single greatest geopolitical threat facing the United States for the next 100 years.”
Last month, Cruz and three other senators introduced the “Blue Skies for Taiwan Act," which would facilitate an assessment of Taiwan’s drone production capabilities and identify opportunities to include Taiwan-made drones in the Defense Innovation Unit's Blue UAS program. Under this initiative, components and software are vetted to establish secure, interoperable drone systems for defense applications.
“The Chinese Communist Party expends countless resources to erode the status of our Taiwanese allies and isolate them globally,” Cruz said at the time.
