A US congressional delegation’s visit to Taiwan last week was aimed at learning how Washington can help support Taipei’s defense capabilities and to discuss ways to boost bilateral trade ties, US Senator John Cornyn said on Sunday.

Cornyn, who led the all-Republican delegation, said in a news release that the group had returned to the US on Sunday after concluding an Indo-Pacific trip in the past few days that took it to Taiwan, the Philippines and India “to strengthen ties with critical allies and partners to counter Chinese aggression.”