NPR’s Leila Fadel asks Democratic Sen. Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire and Republican Sen. Thom Tillis of North Carolina about their tour of East Asia.
LEILA FADEL, HOST:
A bipartisan group of senators is trying to reassure U.S. allies in Asia of America’s commitment to the region and reinforce U.S. support of Taiwan. The senators are on a tour of Asia this week ahead of President Trump’s planned visit with China’s leader in May. Republican Thom Tillis of North Carolina and Democrat Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire are leading the group of senators. They’re on the line from Taipei, Taiwan. Senators, thank you for making the time. Good morning.
JEANNE SHAHEEN: Nice to be with you.
THOM TILLIS: Thank you.
FADEL: The second Trump administration’s foreign policy message has been that allies need to spend more to defend themselves. What is your message? I’ll start with you, Senator Shaheen.
SHAHEEN: There have been some mixed messages coming from the administration. And we want to be very clear that this is an important relationship not only for security reasons, given the critical location, but for economic reasons. So many of the semiconductors that the United States relies on come from Taiwan. We support Taiwan, and we want to make it very clear that there’s strong bipartisan support in Congress.
TILLIS: Yeah. I think a part of what we’re doing is also reinforcing the need for the Taiwanese government to move forward with a special defense supplemental package of nearly $40 billion to help them defend their nation. And we’re here to thank Taiwan for actually moving to 3% of their GDP, what we hope many NATO nations will do, and try to encourage the population to support the president and leadership and their parliament to move forward with this package quickly so that they can build up and modernize their defense.
FADEL: Beijing considers Taiwan to be a part of China, and it’s been a fear for years that China might use military force against Taiwan. This year’s threat assessment by the U.S. intelligence community indicated that China would prefer not to use force by 2027. Does that seem accurate to you?
SHAHEEN: Well, I hope so. I think what happens in Ukraine is a consideration that President Xi and the Chinese are watching very closely to see if we walk away. I think they’re looking at the outcome of this war with Iran to see what the impact of that is on the region. It’s all connected.
FADEL: Well, let me ask you more about that. I mean, because your visit is in the midst of this war with Iran, is there a concern that the U.S. is overstretched, that America’s ability to defend U.S. allies in the Pacific is just not there?
SHAHEEN: Well, I don’t think that’s the case yet.
TILLIS: Well, I – you know, I believe anytime you’re engaged in a conflict like the Middle East, that’s a legitimate concern, but the U.S. has to be many places, and what the U.S. has that China does not are alliances.
And back to the point about China saying that they wouldn’t necessarily want to take Taiwan by force, they may be saying that, but their actions indicate that they’re going to flex, and they are, by a series of military exercises in and around the regions.
FADEL: Why was it important for this visit to happen before President Trump’s planned visit in May?
SHAHEEN: Again, because there have been some mixed messages coming out of the administration about our continued commitment to the region, given China’s continued aggressiveness – as Senator Tillis said, their incursions around Taiwan, their threat to the Taiwan straits – it’s particularly important now to have that reassurance so that everyone is working together.
TILLIS: And I think it just helps to reassure them that, you know, the Article 1 branch has a role to play in foreign policy, and we have to be here so that they understand that the American people, the U.S. Congress, stand behind them.
FADEL: But are they reassured in the sense that some major foreign policy decisions were made when it comes to the war with Iran without consulting Congress? So does this visit reassure them if the president takes actions without consulting Congress?
SHAHEEN: Well, as Senator Tillis says, we are a separate branch of government. And we also have the power of the purse and we have been supporting additional weapons assistance to the countries in the region for a very long time, and we want to let them know that that’s going to continue, regardless of what administration is in power.
FADEL: And Senator Tillis?
TILLIS: Well, you know, I think – I don’t think that there’s ambiguity at all from the United States in terms of support of Taiwan and the importance of this region. You know, China is a country that we have interesting economic relationships with. The president, like past presidents, has to have a dialogue and a rapport with them. But by the same token, we have to stand very firmly with our allies, partners in the region, and I believe that the administration in this area of responsibility shares the same view.
FADEL: And I want to ask you one domestic question before I let you go. I’ll start with you, Senator Shaheen. The standoff over funding for the Department of Homeland Security is in part because Democrats like yourself demanded a significant overhaul to immigration enforcement, like stopping ICE agents from wearing masks. Those demands were not in the bill that passed the Senate, a bill that the House rejected. So this shutdown continues. TSA agents are not getting paid. Do Democrats see a way out?
SHAHEEN: Well, the Democrats don’t control the Senate, the House or the White House. And the fact is, the bill that passed the Senate passed with a hundred members’ support – strong bipartisan support from Democrats and Republicans. Democrats in the House were ready to support that bill, and unfortunately, the speaker decided he wasn’t – he was going to listen to the extreme members of his party and not support it. So I think he’s got a problem.
FADEL: And Senator Tillis, your party does control Congress and the White House. Why couldn’t an agreement come to be that would pay TSA agents before going on recess?
TILLIS: Well, I think an agreement did come to be in the U.S. Senate. That’s when you get a hundred…
FADEL: Yeah.
TILLIS: …Members to agree on a path forward, that’s a pretty good look in the U.S. Senate. We were a bit – we – I personally was disappointed, a bit surprised that the House did not take up the measure and instead just decided to implement a CR. And at this point, I think, because of the difference between the House and the Senate, it’s a Republicans’ problem to solve.
FADEL: Republican Senator Thom Tillis and Democratic Senator Jeanne Shaheen speaking to us from Taiwan, one of the stops on a bipartisan trip to Asia. Thank you both for your time and your insights on this matter.
TILLIS: Thank you.
SHAHEEN: Thank you.
(SOUNDBITE OF ODDISEE’S “AFTER THOUGHTS”)
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