Taiwan Legislative Leader Han Kuo-yu Visits Phoenix, Focuses on Taiwan-US Industrial Cooperation

Taiwan's Legislative Yuan Speaker Han Kuo-yu led a bipartisan delegation to the United States, arriving in Phoenix, Arizona on June 21, 2026 as the first stop of his visit. The delegation included seven lawmakers from both the ruling Democratic Progressive Party and opposition Kuomintang, plus independent legislators. Han's visit underscored the Legislative Yuan's commitment to strengthening Taiwan-US economic and industrial cooperation.

During his Monday visit, Han toured Taiwan's AI Smart Medical Center in Phoenix's biotech park, which showcases 12 leading Taiwanese AI medical enterprises alongside hospital research units and university partners. Han humorously questioned why companies chose Arizona over Hawaii, before concluding that Phoenix's advantages—abundant land, reliable water and electricity, efficient bureaucracy, cooperative universities, and dedicated foreign investment officials—made the location compelling. He used a creative metaphor, likening Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) and the medical center to "a drop of butter" that attracts other Taiwanese industries to Phoenix like ants to honey.

Later that day, Han's delegation visited TSMC's Arizona facility, meeting with over ten TSMC supply chain partners to discuss investment challenges including talent recruitment, regulatory adaptation, construction costs, and visa applications. Lawmakers pledged to work with US counterparts to remove investment obstacles. The delegation then met with TSMC Arizona's Chief Executive Officer Chiang Jui-ping to discuss fab planning, talent development, and technology strategy. Chiang emphasized that TSMC's US investment responds to customer demand while advanced processes and core R&D remain based in Taiwan.

Back in Taiwan, these developments sparked political speculation. Taichung City Mayor Lu Hsiu-yen, considered a leading contender for Taiwan's 2028 presidential election alongside Han, made symbolic gestures interpreted as signaling a potential alliance. Lu sent flowers on Han's birthday and dispatched Vice Mayor Cheng Chao-hsin to see Han off at Taichung airport—moves observers characterized as the "Lu-Han alliance" taking concrete form. When asked, Lu neither confirmed nor denied the alliance but emphasized that Han's visit strengthens Taiwan-US ties and highlighted that semiconductors, aerospace, and optics—industries Han would examine—are Taichung specialties that stand to benefit from enhanced legislative foreign exchange.