The visit by U.S. lawmakers comes at a particularly tense time in the region.

Taiwan's new president was sworn into office one week ago.

In response, China carried out two days of military drills around the island.

During the drills, Taiwan says it tracked more than a dozen Chinese naval vessels and almost 50 warplanes off its coast.

Congressman Michael McCaul, chair of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, and the leader of that congressional delegation, cited those Chinese military drills as a reason for the

U.S. to continue strengthening Taiwan's self-defense capabilities.

NBC's Ryan Noble sat down with Chairman McCaul in Taipei for an exclusive one-on-one interview.

Take a listen.

The Chinese government sent a very specific message to you.

They said, don't come.

They sent you a letter.

But you came anyway, why?

Because we support Taiwan.

We support freedom and democracy against dictatorships like the one that's very close to where we're sitting right now.

The People's Republic of China has been very aggressive, as you saw, sending a letter warning me not to come here, that it would be in violation of the one-China policy.

I would argue what they have done is violating one-China policy.

And then you saw the armada of ships and airplanes, one of the largest ones we've seen, surrounding the island, basically executing their war games and preparing for what they would do in the event of a war, all because of democracy.

It's like a protest, a military exercise game to protest democracy because they don't like the fact that President Lai won fair and square in a peaceful way through democracy.

So how concerned should Americans be about this aggression?

It seems as though China's doing this on a more regular basis, where they're moving into areas that are controlled by Taiwan.

There's this looming threat that seems to exist at all times, but yet they've yet to take that step of a formal invasion.

Is that something that is imminent?

Is it inevitable?

Or do you think it's still something that can be headed off by Taiwan or, in some circumstances, just avoid it from happening?

Well, it's something that I think national security experts like myself think about every day.

How can we stop war?

How can we stop aggression and conflict and war?

And deterrence is really the best way to do this.

You have to get inside Chairman Xi's head, who wants this reunification, he calls it, of Taiwan.

And now, since he did not win the election, that you can see he's not happy about doing the protests with all the warships, now he has to calibrate, okay, what's my next move here?

And his legacy is built into this.

He thinks he's like Chairman Mao and he would like to take back the island.

But we have to demonstrate that the consequences would be way too severe.

The risk would outweigh the advantages and any reward from doing that.

The first thing is, we've got to get these weapons in.

I signed off on the foreign military sales, I've signed off on 22 weapon systems.

In the national security supplemental, Congress voted $2 billion of financing for Taiwan to help prepare them and show that deterrence to China that it's not worth invading.

So what they need here, not so much land assets like in Ukraine, they need maritime assets.

That means sea mines and submarines, anti-ship weapons, they also need better surveillance for cognizance, and also they would be hit with a barrage of rockets that they would need to be able to stop.

So when you say deterrence, does that also include the possibility that the U.S. would be involved in any level of defense for Taiwan if it were to come to that?

Well, I think that's a calculation that Xi has to think about.

We don't want to draw a red line for China right now because then they, you know, that is a red line for them and that would result in an invasion.

So for us, the question would be for the American people, is it in our national security interest to come to the defense of Taiwan if they did not provoke an invasion and they were peaceful, but yet invaded by, you know, Chinese, Communist China?

That's something we think about all the time.

My committee, I deal with issues of war and peace.

My committee has the power to declare war.

But that ultimately is a question for the American people.

And NBC's Ryan Noble joins me now live from Taipei.

So Ryan, congratulations on an exclusive one-on-one interview.

This is the first time U.S. officials are meeting with Taiwan's new president.

What were your biggest takeaways from those meetings and why was it important for these lawmakers to go now, given all the other hotspots around the world?

Well, there's no doubt it's interesting being here, Yamiche, and talking to the people of

Taiwan and then getting an understanding of this relationship and the dynamic between the island and the mainland of China.

And from an outsider's perspective, if you live thousands of miles away, which most of us do, you would take these acts of aggression by China, the specific calling out of this

American congressional delegation, telling them not to come as a reason to avoid further conflict.

But it's clear that these members of Congress, the government here in Taiwan, believes that it's important to stand up to China, to demonstrate that you're not necessarily afraid of their aggression.

And so for this delegation to get those warnings from China to still come is a demonstration that the United States has a firm commitment to Taiwan and their future.

And it's not just a commitment that comes with aid, but it also comes with weapons, it comes with military support, it comes with many different facets.

And you really get a sense that Taiwan appreciates that, that they feel a bit more emboldened to stand up to China because they know not only the U.S., but many other democracy-loving countries around the world have a similar level of respect and support for Taiwan in its ability to self-govern, Yamiche.

And Ryan, as you're talking about that, you said there's a firm commitment here, and you also talked about the future.

So of course, I have to ask, is there any concern in Taiwan that this show of support by the U.S. that it could change if former President Trump were to come back into office?

Yeah, you know, it is so interesting to actually be here.

You know, there's nowhere in the world that you can go and escape the specter of Donald

Trump.

Everyone knows who he is.

We went to a flower market, spent the full day there on Sunday.

Everyone knew who Donald Trump is.

But unlike the United States, where there does appear to be a level of anxiety, both for and against Donald Trump, if he were to win the upcoming presidential election, the feeling here is that that foreign policy is not going to change.

And that's something that Chairman McCaul believes as well.

Listen to what he had to say.

I don't see a lot of dissension or divisiveness.

In fact, if you look at the vote on Taiwan, it was almost unanimous.

It was very bipartisan, had the strongest support out of any of them.

And I think, again, that sends a strong message.

I don't see either two candidates taking a weak position on China when it comes to Taiwan.

I mean, the current president said things about supporting Taiwan, and I know that President

Trump does as well.

And I don't see those policies changing.

So they believe the status quo will occur regardless of what the administration is.

And the status quo is what the people of Taiwan strive for.

That's what they desire.

They're not looking to declare independence any time soon.

But at the same time, they do not want China to attempt to forcefully unify the island with the rest of the country.

Yamiche.

Ryan Noble, thank you so much, live from Taiwan for us.

Thank you.

Thanks for watching.

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