President Lai Ching-te received the eight-member congratulatory delegation that will attend the Jan. 20 inauguration ceremony for U.S. President-elect, Donald Trump and Vice president-elect J. D. Vance. The group will be led by Han Kuo-yu, legislative yuan president and was tasked with three missions by Lai. These are: to convey warm congratulations, emphasize Taiwan’s love of democracy and help create new milestones in the bilateral relationship.

The delegation members will convey Taiwan’s sincere regards on the election and inauguration. Lai noted that last year on the 45th anniversary of the Taiwan Relations Act, the U.S. sent a cross-party delegation to congratulate Taiwan on the successful election and inauguration last May. 

Lai said that that delegation members will clearly express Taiwan’s  unwavering commitment to upholding democracy. Despite the threat of authoritarianism, Taiwan will continue to work together with the U.S. and other like-minded nations to safeguard the development of sustainable global democracy.

Lai concluded by stating that bilateral ties have seen constant progress,  as evidenced by the fact that the first agreement under the U.S.-Taiwan Initiative on 21st Century Trade took effect in December 2024 while the U.S. House of Representatives passed the United States-Taiwan Expedited Double-Tax Relief Act Jan. 15.

In response, Han said that he was honored to lead the delegation which represented both the Taiwan government and its 23 million citizens. He said he looked forward to the congratulatory delegation’s visit opening a new chapter in Taiwan-U.S. exchanges and that the deeply-rooted democracy of the U.S. was also part of Taiwan’s DNA. 

Han further stated that the delegation would convey Taiwan’s kindness and enthusiasm for friendship, democracy, freedom and cross-strait stability.


Source: Taiwan Today (https://taiwantoday.tw/index.php)