During a visit to Taipei, American representatives express their support for Taiwan in confronting China

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On Monday, during its visit to Taipei, a delegation from the US Congress expressed its support for Taiwan in the face of what it called China's "aggression."

Republican Representative Michael McCaul, Chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, said during a meeting with Lay on Monday that he and his colleagues “strongly support this beautiful island.”

McCaul denounced “the Chinese military exercises, which he considered to represent a threat to the security and independence of Taiwan,” claiming that “the Chinese exercises show China’s indifference to “reclaiming Taiwan by peaceful means,” as he put it.

McCaul told Taiwan's president, "All democracies must unite in the face of aggression and tyranny, whether against Russian President Vladimir Putin in Russia, the Ayatollah in Iran or President Xi our neighbor in China. It is an unholy alliance that erodes world peace."

McCaul expressed his hope that the United States would be able to increase the pace of providing military support to Taiwan.

He added, "The basis is to ensure that Taiwan has the weapons necessary for deterrence, so that when the Chinese President reviews his calculations, he will see that the matter is not in his favor."

 For his part, Lai Ching-ti thanked the American delegation for its support, expressing his hope that "Congress will continue to participate in strengthening Taiwan's capabilities in the field of self-defense."

"I will initiate reforms and strengthen national defense, to show the world the determination of the Taiwanese people to defend their homeland," he said.

At the end of last April, the US Congress adopted a military aid package worth eight billion dollars for Taiwan . 

This statement came on the first American visit to Taiwan since President Lai Ching-te was sworn in, and a few days after Beijing organized major military exercises in the region.

McCaul arrived in Taiwan on Sunday, accompanied by a delegation that included Democrats and Republicans, following China's organization last week of large-scale maneuvers around Taiwan, three days after President Lai Ching-te's inauguration speech, which Beijing saw as a sign of the island's "independence" from China.