The U.S. and Taiwan could feasibly manufacture weapons jointly, according to Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Roger Wicker, in remarks that risk angering and escalating tensions with China.

“We are open to suggestion and innovation in that regard,” Wicker said at a briefing in Taipei on Saturday. “And that will depend on the skills present both on this side of the Pacific Ocean and ours.”

The senator from Mississippi arrived in Taiwan on Friday as part of an Indo-Pacific trip with Sen. Deb Fischer of Nebraska, which included stops in Hawaii, Guam, Palau and the Philippines. The Republican senators also met with Taiwan’s Defense Minister Wellington Koo on Saturday.

Their visit drew criticism from Beijing, with Foreign Ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun saying it undermined China’s sov

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