Second US delegation arrives in Taiwan after Pelosi visit

Taipei/Washington  — A delegation of US legislators arrived in Taiwan on Sunday for a two-day trip during which they will meet President Tsai Ing-wen, the second high-level group to visit while there are military tensions between the self-ruled island and China.

Beijing, which claims democratically governed Taiwan as its own territory, has conducted military drills around the island to express its anger over US House of Representatives speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taipei in early August.

The de facto US embassy in Taipei said the delegation is being led by senator Ed Markey, who is being accompanied by four House legislators on what it described as part of a larger visit to the Indo-Pacific region.

Taiwan’s presidential office said the group would meet Tsai on Monday morning.

“Especially at a time when China is raising tensions in the Taiwan Strait and the region with military exercises, Markey leading a delegation to visit Taiwan once again demonstrates the US Congress’ firm support for Taiwan,” it said in a statement.

Markey chairs the Senate foreign relations East Asia, Pacific and international cybersecurity subcommittee. The co-leaders of the visit are John Garamendi of the congressional nuclear weapons and arms control working group and Don Beyer, a spokesperson for Markey said.

China’s embassy in Washington said on Sunday that “members of the US Congress should act in consistence with the US government’s one-China policy” and argued the latest congressional visit “once again proves that the US does not want to see stability across the Taiwan Straits and has spared no effort to stir up confrontation between the two sides and interfere in China's internal affairs”.

Markey's office said the legislators in Taiwan “will reaffirm the US’s support for Taiwan as guided by the Taiwan Relations Act, US — China Joint Communiques, and Six Assurances, and will encourage stability and peace across the Taiwan Strait.”

'Shared interests'

The group will meet “with elected leaders and members of the private sector to discuss shared interests including reducing tensions in the Taiwan Strait and expanding economic co-operation, including investments in semiconductors,” Markey’s office said.

The delegation made a prior stop in South Korea, where Markey met South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol.

Taiwan’s foreign ministry published pictures of the US legislators being met at Taipei’s central Songshan airport having arrived on a US Air Force transport jet, while Markey arrived at the Taoyuan International Airport.

“The delegation will meet senior Taiwan leaders to discuss US-Taiwan relations, regional security, trade and investment, global supply chains, climate change, and other significant issues of mutual interest,” the de facto US embassy said.

While China's drills around Taiwan have abated, it is still carrying out military activities.

Eleven Chinese military aircraft crossed the Taiwan Strait’s median line or entered Taiwan’s air defence zone on Sunday, Taiwan’s defence ministry said. Thirteen aircraft crossed the strait on Saturday, the ministry said.

Reuters