Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL) released a statement Monday congratulating Taiwanese President-elect Ma Ying-Jeou and calling on China to “reduce the military threat to Taiwan by drawing back the missiles it has deployed in southeast China and by other security confidence-building measures.” He also said the United States should “reopen blocked channels of communication with Taiwan officials.”

Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) also commented on the Taiwanese election Monday. He praised the election as a “peaceful transfer of political power from one government to another based on ballots in an election that was free and fair.”

Iraq: As news broke Monday that the four-thousandth U.S. soldier had been killed in Iraq, Sens. Hillary Clinton (D-NY) and Obama both released statements honoring the soldiers and reiterating their calls to end the war. See Clinton’s and Obama’s.