TAIPEI, TAIWAN – After noting Taiwan as an independent nation during her meeting with President Tsai, U.S. Senator Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) spoke with diplomats and officials at Taiwan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) Institute of Diplomacy and International Affairs (IDIA) and charted a path toward strong partnerships in the Indo-Pacific and away from Chinese Communist Party dominance.

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You can view the full speech here or highlights as prepared for delivery below.

INCREASING SUPPORT FOR TAIWAN

Something we focus on in the Senate Armed Services Committee is modernizing the American military and preparing our troops for the future fight, as opposed to the fight we wish we were facing.

I know that Taiwan is in the middle of its own debate over military modernization, and that President Tsai is pushing for a much-needed shift toward an asymmetric strategy…

China’s continued aggression in and around Taiwan’s territory is just one example of why a defense-focused force is so critical to maintaining the safety and security of the region.

Xi Jinping and his military leaders are not prone to making spur of the moment decisions; they planned for this moment, and they were just waiting for an excuse to bully Taiwan.

They are clearly testing Taiwan’s resolve, and the rest of the world’s tolerance for even more imperialist violence.

Most of you probably know that in May, President Biden signed the Ukraine Democracy Defense Lend-Lease Act into law, which gave him the authority to provide defense aid to Kyiv and other governments in Eastern Europe.

At the end of July, I introduced similar bicameral and bipartisan legislation which would allow a U.S. President to expedite similar types of military aid to Taipei.

In addition to providing those defense articles, this legislation would strategize U.S. defense policy in support of Taiwan, require comprehensive reporting on what Taiwan needs to defend itself, and give us a clearer picture of what the threat from the PLA actually appears to be.

DEFENDING OUR PARTNERS AND STANDING WITH TAIWAN

One of the reasons I’ve come to Taipei to have these conversations with Taiwan’s leaders is because we can’t afford to let the Chinese Communist Party write the world’s foreign policy. For decades, any nation with enough power to challenge Beijing has begged somebody else to jump in and help do that job…

The only way we can stop and reverse the rise of authoritarianism around the globe is to do everything we possibly can to make sure the authoritarians fail.

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