The White House’s apparent decision to block Taiwanese leader William Lai Ching-te’s transit through New York has sparked backlash from Democrats but met with relative silence from Republicans, including those typically outspoken about Taiwan.
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The muted Republican response marks a notable shift for a party that has in recent years championed high-profile engagement with Taipei – including symbolic moves that Democrats have avoided.
It also comes amid high-stakes US-China trade negotiations that some observers have suggested is motivating the posture.
On Monday, three Democratic representatives – Raja Krishnamoorthi, the senior Democrat on the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party; Gregory Meeks, the top Democrat on the House Foreign Affairs Committee; and Gregory Stanton, a co-chair of the Congressional Taiwan Caucus – sent a letter to Secretary of State Marco Rubio raising “grave concern” over the decision.
Stopping Lai’s transit represented a “stark departure from precedent”, the Democrats wrote, and “sends a dangerous signal to Beijing about our willingness to make concessions with regard to our national strategic interests”.
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“We call on you to approve any requested transit by President Lai and reaffirm the United States’ long-standing policy regarding Taiwan,” they continued.
