Silicon Valley’s Ro Khanna Leads Congressional Trip to Taiwan

Mackenzie Hawkins
·3 min read
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(Bloomberg) -- Representative Ro Khanna is leading a congressional delegation to Taiwan Saturday to bolster economic ties as the relationship between Washington and Beijing comes under fresh strain.

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Khanna, a California Democrat who represents much of Silicon Valley, will meet with Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen and Morris Chang, founder of the Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company as well as representatives from Alphabet Inc.’s Google, Khanna’s office said in a press release.

“A lot of my interest is the economic — the semiconductor, the manufacturing, bringing that back here,” Khanna said in an interview in Santa Clara, California, adding that he plans to affirm the One China policy on the trip.

Representative Tony Gonzales, a Texas Republican, and Democratic Representatives Jake Auchincloss of Massachusetts and Jonathan Jackson of Illinois are also part of the delegation. Auchincloss and Khanna are members of the new House select committee on China.

Khanna said that he began planning the trip before the committee formed, prompted in large part by the CHIPS and Science Act, a $280 billion investment in semiconductor manufacturing that Khanna helped usher to President Joe Biden’s desk in the last Congress.

His visit was in the works before the American military shot down a Chinese balloon that had flown over the continental US, leading Secretary of State Antony Blinken to postpone a high-profile visit to Beijing. Khanna said he intends to visit China this year, at a time that the State Department deems appropriate.

Read more: GOP House Panel Chair to Lead Taiwan Trip as China Tensions Rise

“The trip was planned before the incidents, so canceling it would have sent the wrong message,” Khanna said.

The trip could be the first of several by members of Congress this year, as House Foreign Affairs Chairman Michael McCaul said he plans to lead a bipartisan delegation to the island this spring. That is likely to occur during the April recess, according to a person familiar with the matter.

Speaker Kevin McCarthy, a Republican, has also expressed his intent to visit Taiwan at some point this year or next, and McCaul, a Texas Republican, has said he would be part of trip. Asked whether he would join either of those visits, Khanna that this upcoming visit is “what I plan to do.”

“I’ve also very clearly said that I would like to engage China and go to China as well, and I’m not sure if the Speaker or McCaul will take that approach,” Khanna said.

The travel plans demonstrate an unflagging continuation of congressional support for Taiwan. In 2022, at least 37 US lawmakers visited, the most in a decade, according to a Bloomberg tally. Among them was then-Speaker Nancy Pelosi, a Democrat, whose trip touched off a furious response by China, including staged military exercises around the island.

Related: Silicon Valley Lawmaker Plans Taiwan, China Trips This Year

China considers Taiwan part of its territory and has repeatedly said it is willing to use force to prevent its formal independence.

While Beijing has tolerated visits to Taiwan by rank-and-file lawmakers in recent years, trip on Saturday comes at a particuarly fraught moment between the US and China.

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