China's threats, 'naked aggression' loom large as House lawmakers meet Taiwan's new president

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TAIPEI, TAIWAN – Standing across from Taiwan’s newly elected president on Monday, House Foreign Affairs Chairman Michael McCaul, R-Texas, drew a stark parallel between China’s hostility toward the island and the tension that wracked the globe during World War II.

"All democracies must stand together against aggression and tyranny, whether it's [Vladimir Putin] and Russia, the ayatollah of Iran, or Chairman Xi next door to us in China – an unholy alliance is eroding peace around the world," McCaul said. "Not since World War II, my father's war, have we seen such blatant violence and naked aggression."

The Texas Republican is leading a multi-day diplomatic trip to Taipei with a bipartisan coalition of House lawmakers. The group met with Taiwanese President Lai Ching-tse and Foreign Minister Jaushieh Joseph Wu on their first full day – the first U.S. delegation to meet with the new officials since they took office a little over a week ago.

"I gave them some updates on the weapons and some other things we're doing to help them, but they just wanted me to know that the threat was getting very intense from Chairman Xi," McCaul told Fox News Digital after the meetings.

CHINA’S FOREIGN MINISTRY BLASTS TAIWAN INAUGURATION, PHILIPPINES STANDOFF IN SOUTH CHINA SEA

Rep. Young Kim, R-Calif., chair of the