KMT Chair Cheng Li-wun (鄭麗文) has begun her visit to the United States and met with Santa Clara County Supervisor Otto Lee and Santa Clara Mayor Lisa Gillmor this Thursday, per a KMT press release.

Cheng said Taiwan looks forward to leveraging its “silicon shield” capabilities to engage in more strategic cooperation with Santa Clara County and hopes to deepen comprehensive exchanges between the two sides in the future.

Cheng departed on Monday for a two-week visit, which includes stops in San Francisco, Boston, New York, Washington, D.C., and Los Angeles. The U.S. State Department stated that visits by Taiwanese political figures are routine and fully in line with long-term U.S. policy.

The KMT chair is scheduled to stay in Washington, D.C., next Tuesday through Friday. She is expected to meet with members of Congress, the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) headquarters, and hold closed-door discussions regarding Taiwan’s situation with major think tanks, including the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) and Stimson Center.