Strengthening the United States’ economic and military alliances with partner countries against China was top of mind for a U.S. delegation trip to East Asia, led by U.S. Rep. Young Kim.

The bipartisan congressional delegation spent 10 days in South Korea, Japan and Taiwan to examine aspects of the U.S. relationship with each, said Kim, R-Calif., who chairs the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on East Asia and the Pacific.

And though the focus was on strengthening these relationships as tensions between the U.S. and China ratchet up, what happens in East Asia doesn’t occur in a vacuum, she said.

“Foreign policy is not something that only happens for things overseas. It is very much connected to our daily lives right here in Orange County,” Kim said Monday in a phone interview. “We live in Southern California with ports: Long Beach, Los Angeles, San Pedro, where more than 40% of our goods come from Asia. … The trade aspect of our relationship with those countries is of critical importance.”

The trip started in South Korea, where officials met with Seoul officials about the terms of the country’s pledge of $350 billion in U.S. investment to avoid the Trump administration’s tariffs. Key terms of the deal reached last year include South Korea investing $200 billion in semiconductor and high-tech industries and $150 billion in shipbuilding.

Kim said that while the delegation met with several companies that were excited to invest more in the U.S., “from ships to chips,” she was also disappointed that specifics on exactly how Korean officials will meet those terms couldn’t be provided.

The delegation also raised concerns about the effects of the country’s regulatory environment on U.S. businesses, as well as concerns about South Korea’s consideration of new digital platform legislation, which Kim said could “uniquely discriminate” against U.S. tech firms.

“We are already seeing how damaging European digital platform laws have been for the U.S.-EU relationship. … I don’t want the same thing to happen with South Korea,” Kim said.

Kim introduced or sponsored several pieces of legislation before the trip that she says will be key to loosening China’s influence in the region in several key supply chains, which, along with export controls, was the focus of the delegation’s stop in Japan.

Kim said Japan is an “indispensable partner” in the push to secure lasting supply chains for critical minerals to be used in semiconductor production.

“We’ve already seen Beijing weaponize its dominance over critical minerals, so we cannot allow that same strategy to succeed in advanced semiconductors. That’s the message I gave when I was in Japan,” she said.

Militarily, the delegation discussed with officials how the U.S. and all three countries can work together should a conflict arise in the Taiwan Strait. The Taiwanese legislature recently passed a $25 billion defense budget, with additional funding for drone manufacturing potentially on its way. The delegation toured a Taiwanese drone production facility, which Kim said is a key part of the country’s deterrence against China.

“That is very important for their own deterrence, as well as showing the United States how serious they are about self-defense,” she said. “It was very important that we send a strong message, not only to Taiwan leaders, but to our friends in South Korea and Japan, that there is a broad recognition that peace is preserved through strength, and only by working together with our partners that can be achieved.”

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