Media reports say US Senator Roger Wicker may visit Taiwan after President William Lai Ching-te cancelled a trip to Latin America.
Taipei, Taiwan – A senior United States Republican legislator is reportedly planning a trip to Taiwan, according to media reports, where fears have been growing that US President Donald Trump is losing interest in relations with the democratic, self-ruled island in favour of building ties with China.
The Financial Times reported on Thursday that US Senator Roger Wicker from Mississippi is planning to visit Taiwan in August, citing three people familiar with the matter.
Wicker is the Republican chair of the powerful Senate Armed Services Committee and “one of Taiwan’s biggest allies in Congress”, according to the report.
Wicker’s office and the American Institute in Taiwan – Washington’s de facto embassy in Taipei – did not immediately reply to Al Jazeera’s request for comment on the reported trip.
US legislators regularly visit Taiwan, an unofficial ally of Washington, but Wicker’s trip comes at a time of uncertainty for US-Taiwan relations.
Taiwanese President William Lai Ching-te was reportedly planning to stop in the US next month en route to visiting allies in Latin America, but he cancelled his travel plans after Trump nixed a layover in New York, the Financial Times also reported, citing people familiar with the matter.
Lai’s office never officially announced the trip, but on Monday, his office said the president had no plans to travel overseas as he focused on typhoon cleanup in southern Taiwan and tariff negotiations with the US.
The timing of President Lai’s cancelled visit was noted in Taiwan, as it was followed by a separate announcement from Trump that he hoped to visit China at the invitation of President Xi Jinping as Beijing and Washington hammer out a tariff deal.
Xi, who also heads the Chinese Communist Party, has pledged to annex Taiwan by peace or by force and considers Lai and his Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) to be “separatists”.
Beijing objects to visits by Taiwanese leaders to the US, even if they are carried out on an unofficial basis.
Experts say it is possible that Wicker’s trip was planned months ago, but the visit could still be used by US legislators to assuage fears that the White House is losing interest in Taiwan.
“I’m sure many will hope for words of affirmation and commitment to the US-Taiwan relationship, which before would be par for the course, but today will feel extra needed to assure both the DPP and Taiwanese citizens who have a declining view of the United States,” said Lev Nachman, a political scientist at National Taiwan University in Taipei.
Although the US is Taiwan’s security guarantor and has pledged to provide Taipei with the means to defend itself, there are deep currents of scepticism towards the US – known as yimeilun – running through Taiwanese society.
That has grown more prominent since Trump took office last year and said that Taiwan should pay for its own defence, later threatening to slap a 32 percent tariff on Taiwanese exports.
A survey in April of 1,500 Taiwanese voters by Nachman and others found that just 23.1 percent viewed the US as either a “trustworthy or very trustworthy” partner, down from 33.6 percent in June 2024 when US President Joe Biden was still in office.
Liza Tobin, managing director at the geopolitical advisory group Garnaut Global, said the pendulum could swing the other way if Beijing tries to block the trip.
Trump has granted Beijing a number of concessions already, from access to Nvidia’s H20 chip to the terms of sale for the Panama Canal, she said, and a trip by a senior legislator could join the list.
“Unilateral concessions are like catnip for Beijing to push for more concessions, and with the president angling for a trade deal with China and a visit with Xi, China may try to pressure the admin to in turn put pressure on Wicker to cancel the trip,” she said. “Let’s hope he doesn’t give in.”
