Democratic Sen. Tammy Duckworth is arriving in Taiwan on Monday to reaffirm the United States\u2019 long-term commitment to the island\u2019s security. Her trip is taking place as U.S. President Donald Trump\u2019s transactional approach to foreign relations has increasingly raised questions about Washington\u2019s reliability in the face of rising aggression from China.<\/p>\n
Duckworth will be the first U.S. senator to visit Taiwan since Trump\u2019s May meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing. During that meeting, Xi told Trump that \u201cthe Taiwan question is the most important issue in China-U.S. relations\u201d and warned that if the issue wasn\u2019t handled properly, it could lead to \u201cclashes and even conflicts\u201d between the two countries, per Beijing\u2019s readout<\/a> of the proceedings. In a Fox News interview that aired immediately after his visit, Trump said U.S. arms sales to Taiwan were a \u201cvery good negotiating chip\u201d in relations with Beijing.<\/p>\n Democratic Sen. Tammy Duckworth is arriving in Taiwan on Monday to reaffirm the United States\u2019 long-term commitment to the island\u2019s security. Her trip is taking place as U.S. President Donald Trump\u2019s transactional approach to foreign relations has increasingly raised questions about Washington\u2019s reliability in the face of rising aggression from China.<\/p>\n Duckworth will be the first U.S. senator to visit Taiwan since Trump\u2019s May meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing. During that meeting, Xi told Trump that \u201cthe Taiwan question is the most important issue in China-U.S. relations\u201d and warned that if the issue wasn\u2019t handled properly, it could lead to \u201cclashes and even conflicts\u201d between the two countries, per Beijing\u2019s readout<\/a> of the proceedings. In a Fox News interview that aired immediately after his visit, Trump said U.S. arms sales to Taiwan were a \u201cvery good negotiating chip\u201d in relations with Beijing.<\/p>\n Trump\u2019s comments, which came as Taiwan waits for him to sign off on a $14 billion arms package, generated significant anxiety<\/a> in Taipei. In the interview with Fox News, Trump said he was holding the arms package \u201cin abeyance and it depends on China.\u201d This appeared to break with decades of U.S. policy under what are known as the Six Assurances, one of which stipulates that Washington will not consult with Beijing on arms sales to Taiwan.<\/p>\n \u201cIt really is critical to not yield even an inch to President Xi, and that\u2019s why I really wanted to go to Taiwan at this time,\u201d Duckworth told Foreign Policy<\/em> in an exclusive interview. The trip is meant to send a message to China that \u201cwe\u2019re not going to let them bully the rest of the world,\u201d the senator said.<\/p>\n Duckworth believes that her past support for Taiwan, through both legislation and vaccine diplomacy<\/a> during the COVID-19 pandemic, puts her in a strong position to deliver a message to the island that \u201cthe United States will be here\u201d in the long run. \u201cPresidents come, presidents go,\u201d she said, but \u201cthe commitment to our role on the global stage remains.\u201d<\/p>\n Duckworth also characterized<\/span> the visit as a \u201cbig economic investment trip.\u201d The Illinois senator emphasized the vital role that Taiwan plays in the global economy through the production of semiconductor chips while stressing the significance of the Taiwan Strait\u2014a critical maritime chokepoint\u2014to international shipping. Duckworth said the U.S. economy would not be able to function \u201cwithout the manufacturing supply chain that we get out of Taiwan.\u201d<\/p>\n Pointing to the fact that the average American car contains a huge number of chips manufactured in Taiwan, Duckworth said she has been working hard to see the island make investments and manufacture chips in the United States.<\/p>\n \u201cPart of what I\u2019m doing is pushing for economic investments in the United States and particularly in Illinois, but it\u2019s also about national security interests as well,\u201d Duckworth said of the priorities on her visit.<\/p>\n The senator is scheduled to meet with top leaders and officials during her time there, including President Lai Ching-te; Vice President Hsiao Bi-khim; Joseph Wu, the head of Taiwan\u2019s National Security Council; Legislative Speaker Han Kuo-yu; Ocean Affairs Minister Kuan Bi-ling; Economy Minister Kung Ming-hsin; and Defense Minister Wellington Koo.<\/p>\n Duckworth said the trip is also meant to reassure allies more broadly that the United States will remain engaged with the wider world amid the volatility and consternation bred by the Trump administration\u2019s actions and policies.<\/p>\n \u201cThis administration has really de-emphasized diplomacy and America\u2019s role around the world,\u201d Duckworth told Foreign Policy<\/em>, pointing to the fact that the Trump administration has requested a State Department budget for the next fiscal year of roughly $34 billion<\/a>\u2014less than what the United States spent in just a few months of \u201cbombing Iran<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThe rest of the world is nervous, they\u2019re edgy, they are worried about the U.S. cozying up to Russia and to the PRC [People\u2019s Republic of China], and they want to know that America is going to remain engaged,\u201d Duckworth said. This is about \u201creassuring allies of our commitment\u201d to the Indo-Pacific as a strategic priority, she said.<\/p>\n Taiwan has raised the alarm<\/a> about Chinese military activities<\/a> and spying in recent months. China views Taiwan as its own territory and a breakaway province, and there have long been concerns that it could take military action against the island to seize it by force. Trump\u2019s critics have said his unpredictability and relatively amicable stance toward Xi have only added to the island\u2019s fears.<\/p>\n Taiwan is \u201cvery worried\u201d that Trump is \u201cwaffling on the $14 billion arms package,\u201d Duckworth said. \u201cAnd frankly his willingness to let China have some sort of a say in whether or not we advance their package is deeply troubling,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n Lai last month expressed optimism<\/a> that Trump would soon approve the arms package. \u201cPresident Trump\u2019s arms sales for Taiwan have basically met Taiwan\u2019s needs, and so we also have high hopes about these upcoming arms sales,\u201d the Taiwanese president said in response to a question on the sale. In late June, Michael DeSombre, the U.S. assistant secretary of state \u200bfor East Asian and Pacific affairs, told Congress<\/a> that the arms sale did not depend on China and that there had been no \u201cdeviation\u201d from long-standing U.S. policy. But there are still open questions about why Trump is continuing to hold up the package.<\/p>\n In response to a request for comment on the status of the $14 billion arms sale, a senior Trump administration official told Foreign Policy<\/em>: \u201cAs President Trump said, he will make a determination in a fairly short time regarding a new Taiwan arms package.\u201d Trump in mid-May said<\/a> he would \u201cmake a determination over the next fairly short period\u201d regarding the package.<\/p>\n \u201cThe President approved $11.1 billion in arms sales to Taiwan in December 2025, consistent with U.S. policy since the 1950s,\u201d the official added. This was the largest<\/a> U.S. arms package to Taiwan in history. Beijing issued sharp criticism of the record arms sale, launching military drills<\/a> near Taiwan just 11 days after the package was announced.<\/p>\n Though Washington does not have official diplomatic relations with Taipei, it has maintained close unofficial ties with the island for nearly half a century (while continuing to recognize China as the primary diplomatic representative of the Chinese people but without acknowledging Beijing\u2019s claims of sovereignty over Taiwan). The United States is legally obligated to supply Taiwan with defensive weapons under the 1979 Taiwan Relations Act and has provided the island with billions of dollars in arms over the years.<\/p>\n Duckworth said she\u2019s worried Trump is not committed to Taiwan and signaled that even some of her Republican colleagues share her concerns. \u201cSupport for Taiwan is bipartisan,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n \u201cLook, I\u2019m a broken-down, old soldier. All I care about is America\u2019s national security,\u201d said Duckworth, an Iraq War combat veteran who lost both of her legs when the Black Hawk helicopter she was co-piloting was hit by a rocket-propelled grenade. \u201cAnd our role in the Indo-Pacific as a Pacific nation, as a leader, both economically but also strategically, is critically important to America\u2019s well-being, and Taiwan is a major part of that,\u201d she said. \u201cTaiwan remaining free and independent is important to our national security.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Democratic Sen. Tammy Duckworth is arriving in Taiwan on Monday to reaffirm the United States\u2019 long-term commitment to the island\u2019s security. Her trip is taking place as U.S. President Donald Trump\u2019s transactional approach to foreign relations has increasingly raised questions about Washington\u2019s reliability in the face of rising aggression from China. Duckworth will be the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":33603,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/foreignpolicy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Trump-Xi.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[11611],"tags":[1999,12083,12084,3829,11924,955,23624,23625,11926,11614,22046],"class_list":["post-33602","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-spyballoon-global-news","tag-china","tag-donald-trump","tag-homepage_regional_asia","tag-inch","tag-taiwan","tag-u-s","tag-u-s-congress","tag-u-s-senate","tag-u-s-china-competition","tag-united-states","tag-yield"],"rttpg_featured_image_url":{"full":["https:\/\/foreignpolicy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Trump-Xi.jpg",0,0,false],"landscape":["https:\/\/foreignpolicy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Trump-Xi.jpg",0,0,false],"portraits":["https:\/\/foreignpolicy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Trump-Xi.jpg",0,0,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/foreignpolicy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Trump-Xi.jpg",150,150,false],"medium":["https:\/\/foreignpolicy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Trump-Xi.jpg",300,300,false],"large":["https:\/\/foreignpolicy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Trump-Xi.jpg",1024,1024,false],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/foreignpolicy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Trump-Xi.jpg",1536,1536,false],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/foreignpolicy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Trump-Xi.jpg",2048,2048,false],"post-thumbnail":["https:\/\/foreignpolicy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Trump-Xi.jpg",370,265,false],"kava-thumb-s":["https:\/\/foreignpolicy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Trump-Xi.jpg",150,85,false],"kava-thumb-s-2":["https:\/\/foreignpolicy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Trump-Xi.jpg",230,230,false],"kava-thumb-m":["https:\/\/foreignpolicy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Trump-Xi.jpg",400,400,false],"kava-thumb-m-vertical":["https:\/\/foreignpolicy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Trump-Xi.jpg",370,500,false],"kava-thumb-m-2":["https:\/\/foreignpolicy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Trump-Xi.jpg",570,450,false],"kava-thumb-l":["https:\/\/foreignpolicy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Trump-Xi.jpg",1170,650,false],"kava-thumb-xl":["https:\/\/foreignpolicy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Trump-Xi.jpg",1920,1080,false],"kava-thumb-masonry":["https:\/\/foreignpolicy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Trump-Xi.jpg",600,999,false],"kava-thumb-justify":["https:\/\/foreignpolicy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Trump-Xi.jpg",640,640,false],"kava-thumb-justify-2":["https:\/\/foreignpolicy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Trump-Xi.jpg",1280,640,false]},"rttpg_author":{"display_name":"#RiseCelestialStudios","author_link":"https:\/\/design-providers.com\/rise\/author\/ralph-c\/"},"rttpg_comment":0,"rttpg_category":"SPYBALLOON GLOBAL NEWS<\/a>","rttpg_excerpt":"Democratic Sen. Tammy Duckworth is arriving in Taiwan on Monday to reaffirm the United States\u2019 long-term commitment to the island\u2019s security. Her trip is taking place as U.S. President Donald Trump\u2019s transactional approach to foreign relations has increasingly raised questions about Washington\u2019s reliability in the face of rising aggression from China. Duckworth will be the…","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/design-providers.com\/rise\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33602","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/design-providers.com\/rise\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/design-providers.com\/rise\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/design-providers.com\/rise\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/design-providers.com\/rise\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=33602"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/design-providers.com\/rise\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33602\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":33604,"href":"https:\/\/design-providers.com\/rise\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33602\/revisions\/33604"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/design-providers.com\/rise\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/33603"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/design-providers.com\/rise\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=33602"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/design-providers.com\/rise\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=33602"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/design-providers.com\/rise\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=33602"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}