The chairman of the US House China Committee said his country's legislature's support for Taiwan was "extremely strong" after meeting with the self-ruled island's top leadership.
Mike Gallagher led a five-member delegation that met with Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen and Vice President Lai Ching-te, who won last month's presidential election and will take office in May.
"I actually think that the support for Taiwan in the United States Congress ... I see growing and extremely strong support for Taiwan," Gallagher told reporters.
The United States is Taiwan's most important ally, and the island is at the center of tensions with China, which claims it as its territory and has not ruled out using force to bring it under Beijing's control.
Gallagher, a fierce critic of China, added that he believed US support for Taiwan would not be affected by the outcome of the country's 2024 presidential election.
"I am very confident that support for Taiwan will continue regardless of who occupies the White House," he said.
He also warned Beijing against attempting to invade Taiwan, saying it would be "incredibly stupid".
"If Xi Jinping and the Chinese Communist Party ever make the incredibly stupid decision to try to invade Taiwan ... that effort will fail," he said during the meeting with Lai.
Earlier, President Tsai welcomed the US lawmakers, saying the visit demonstrated the US's "firm support for Taiwanese democracy through concrete actions".
"We will continue to develop our international partnerships and engage with the world. In 2024, we hope to see even greater exchanges between Taiwan and the US in a number of fields," she said.
The delegation will remain until Saturday as part of a larger visit to the region, the American Institute in Taiwan, Washington's de facto embassy in Taipei, said in a statement.
Gallagher is joined by U.S. Reps. Raja Krishnamurthy (D-IL), John Mullenaar (R-MI), Dusty Johnson (R-SD) and Seth Moulton (D-MA). /BGNES
