US lawmakers visit Taiwan after Pelosi visit angers China

US lawmakers visit Taiwan after Pelosi visit angers China
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A delegation of US lawmakers arrived in Taiwan on Sunday, less than two weeks after House Speaker Nancy Pelosi visited angered China And it raised fears of a military crisis in the Taiwan Strait.

Five members of Congress, led by Senator Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.), are expected to meet with President Tsai Ing-wen and other top leaders to discuss US-Taiwan relations, regional security issues, trade and climate change. According to the American Institute in Taiwan.

The institute said in a statement That lawmakers will be in Taiwan on Sunday and Monday as part of a larger trip to Asia.

In a statement, a Markey spokesman said the delegation will also meet with members of the private sector to “discuss common interests including reducing tensions in the Taiwan Strait and expanding economic cooperation, including investment in semiconductors.”

Pelosi’s visit in early August led to an escalation of tensions in US-China relations. The Chinese conducted military exercises off Taiwan, including launching missiles that landed in the surrounding waters. The government of Chinese President Xi Jinping also cut off talks with the United States on military issues and climate change, a decision foreign policy experts fear could jeopardize progress at the global climate summit in November.

For Beijing, Pelosi’s high-level meetings in Taiwan were an affront. China claims that the island under democratic rule is its own territory. During her trip, the spokeswoman offered assurances of US support, saying that one of the trip’s goals was to “show the success of the people of Taiwan, and the courage to change their country, to become more democratic.”

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As of Sunday afternoon, the Chinese Foreign Ministry had not issued any reaction to the delegation’s recent visit.

Taiwan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs chirp A photo of the delegation meeting with Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Tah Ray Yue, and they celebrated the lawmakers’ visit as a sign of the friendly relations between Taipei and the United States.

“As China continues to escalate tensions in the region, the US Congress has once again organized a heavyweight delegation to visit Taiwan, to demonstrate the friendship that does not fear China’s threats and intimidation, and to highlight the strong US support for Taiwan,” the Taiwan ministry said in a statement.

The congressional delegation visiting the island this week includes House Democrats John Garamendi, Alan Lowenthal of California and Dawn Beyer of Virginia. It also includes Republican Del Omoa Amata Coleman Radiowagen of American Samoa, according to a Markey spokesperson.

The state-run nationalist Global Times was among the first Chinese media Report On the delegation’s visit.

Quoting “Chinese experts,” the article said the People’s Liberation Army’s military exercises around Taiwan sent a “loud and clear warning signal.” However, some American politicians are “playing with fire to serve their own political interests,” the article continued.

“The international community can clearly see who is the troublemaker who always ignores warnings and continues to deteriorate regional peace with endless provocations,” the Global Times wrote.

The outlet also quoted Zhang Tungun – deputy director of the Department of Asia and Pacific Studies at the China Institute of International Studies – who said that the delegation arrived in a “subtle and covert manner” which “revealed their fear of provoking anger from the Chinese mainland.”

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