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Taiwan's Ma Ying-jeou has hotel room check-in with 8 members of Congress in Los Angeles
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Republic of China in-exile President Ma Ying-jeou advocates 'One China' AP photo
Republic of China in-exile President Ma Ying-jeou held unannounced talks with eight powerful members of Congress in Los Angeles during a stopover visit to the United States on his trip to Central America.
Taiwan News broke the story, which was confirmed by Ma's spokesperson Wang Yu-chi who identified Ma's congressional contacts during the U.S. stopover. Ma met with some in person and talked with others on the phone.
The most prominent politician was the 2008 Republican presidential nominee, Senator John McCain of Arizona. The congressional callers were in sharp contrast to the silent treatment by President Barack Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton who snubbed Ma, bypassing the island on her recent Asian tour.
Members of Congress that spoke in person or by phone with Ma besides John McCain were Senator Max Baucus [D-MT], Senator Kit Bond [R-Mo], Representative Robert Wexler [D-FL], Representative Shelley Berkley [D-NV], Representative Chris Van Hollen [D-MD], Representative Howard Berman [D-CA], and David Dreier [R-CA].
Obama's silence on Taiwan follows a recent court decision where U.S. Circuit Judge Janice Rogers Brown declared the longstanding "strategic ambiguity" over Taiwan's unresolved national status to be "political purgatory" and urged Obama to act "expeditiously" to resolve the matter.
Meanwhile in Los Angeles, according KMT legislator Justin Chou, the topics of discussion were an extradition agreement between Taiwan and the United States, visa-free visits of Taiwanese tourists to America, the purchase of advanced F-16 jet fighters, and a free-trade agreement. Taiwan News further reported that members of Congress were interested in the status of cross-strait relations with the People's Republic of China, the Taiwan Relations Act, and the sale of American beef.
Ma's visit did spark protests with protestors declaring they were Taiwanese not Chinese.
One of the most outspoken members of Congress, Ed Royce [R-CA] apparently missed the hotel fete but did attend a banquet in Ma's honor the night before he departed Los Angeles. While none of the members of Congress mentioned Ma Ying-jeou on their official websites, Royce has written a snappy entry on North Korea on his "Political Intrigue" blog where he rejects a U.S.-China deal to contain North Korea.
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