TAIPEI/WASHINGTON (Reuters) – A delegation of US lawmakers arrived in Taiwan on Sunday for a two-day trip to meet President Tsai Ing-wen, the second high-level group to visit her amid military tensions. Between the autonomous island and China.
Beijing, which claims Taiwan is democratically governed as its territory, held military exercises around the island after US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taipei in early August.
China has always claimed sovereignty over the island. Taiwan’s government rejects China’s claims and says the islanders must decide its future.
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The de facto US Embassy in Taipei said the delegation is headed by Senator Ed Markey, who is accompanied by four House of Representatives Representatives in what it described as part of a larger visit to the Indo-Pacific region.
Taiwan’s presidential office said the group would meet Tsai Monday morning.
“Especially at a time when China is raising tensions in the Taiwan Strait and the region with its military exercises, Markey, who is leading a delegation to visit Taiwan, once again shows the US Congress’ unwavering support for Taiwan,” she said in a statement.
Markey chairs the Senate International Cybersecurity Subcommittee. A Markey spokesperson said the leaders participating in the visit are Representative John Garamendi of the Congressional Working Group on Nuclear Weapons and Arms Control and Representative Don Baer, a Markey spokesman.
China’s embassy in Washington said on Sunday that “members of the US Congress should act in accordance with the US government’s one-China policy” and argued that the recent congressional visit “proves once again that the United States does not want to see stability across the Taiwan Strait. It spared no effort in provoking The confrontation between the two sides and interference in China’s internal affairs.”
A spokesman for the White House National Security Council said members of Congress have been to Taiwan for decades and will continue to do so, adding that such visits are consistent with the United States’ longstanding one-China policy.
Under this policy, the United States establishes formal diplomatic relations with Beijing, not Taiwan. However, Washington does not take a position on whether Beijing has sovereignty over Taiwan, and is obligated under US law to provide Taiwan with the means to defend itself.
Markey’s office said Taiwan lawmakers “will reaffirm the United States’ support for Taiwan as guided by the Taiwan Relations Act, the US-China Joint Statements, and the Six Affirmations, and will promote stability and peace across the Taiwan Strait.”
‘Common interests’
Markey’s office said the group would meet “with elected leaders and members of the private sector to discuss common interests including reducing tensions in the Taiwan Strait and expanding economic cooperation, including investment in semiconductors.”
The delegation stopped earlier in South Korea, where Marche met with South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol.
Taiwan’s Foreign Ministry released pictures of four deputies at Songshan Airport in central Taipei who arrived on a US Air Force transport plane, while Markey arrived at Taoyuan International Airport.
“The delegation will meet with senior leaders of Taiwan to discuss US-Taiwan relations, regional security, trade and investment, global supply chains, climate change and other important issues of mutual interest,” the actual US embassy said.
While Chinese exercises around Taiwan have eased, they continue to conduct military activities.
Taiwan’s Defense Ministry said 11 Chinese military aircraft crossed the middle line of the Taiwan Strait or entered Taiwan’s air defense zone on Sunday. The ministry said 13 planes crossed the strait on Saturday. Read more
US officials said Beijing “overreacted” to Pelosi’s visit and used it as an excuse to try to change the status quo in the Taiwan Strait. Read more
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Additional reporting by Ben Blanchard, David Shepardson and Michael Martina in Washington. Editing: Kirsten Donovan, Nick McPhee, Grant McCall and Diane Kraft
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