The institute said in a statement that lawmakers would be in Taiwan on Sunday and Monday as part of a larger trip to Asia.
The delegation will also meet with members of the private sector “to discuss shared interests, including easing tensions in the Taiwan Strait and expanding economic cooperation, including investment in semiconductors,” said a spokesman for Sen. . Markey in a statement.
Pelosi’s visit in early August led to heightened tensions in US-China relations. The Chinese conducted military exercises off the coast of Taiwan, including firing rockets that landed in the surrounding waters. The government of Chinese President Xi Jinping also cut talks with the United States on military issues and climate change, a decision that foreign policy experts feared could jeopardize progress at a global climate summit in November.
To Pelosi, Pelosi’s high-level meetings in Taiwan were an insult. China claims the democratically governed island as its own territory. During her trip, the speaker assured American support, saying that one of the goals of the trip was “to show the world the success of the people of Taiwan, the courage to change their own country, to become more democratic.”
On Sunday afternoon, the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs had not yet responded to the latest delegation visit.
Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Taiwan tweeted a photo of the delegation meeting with the vice minister of foreign affairs, Alexander Tah-ray Yui, and the visit of lawmakers celebrated as a sign of 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, demonstrating a friendship unafraid of China’s threats and intimidation, and the US’s strong support for Taiwan. stressed,” the president said. The Taiwanese ministry said in a statement.
The congressional delegation visiting the island this week includes members of the Democratic House, John Garamendi and Alan Lowenthal of California and Don Beyer of Virginia. It also includes Republican Representative Aumua Amata Coleman Radewagen, a delegate from American Samoa, according to Markey’s spokesman.
The state-run nationalist tabloid Global Times was one of the first Chinese media outlets to cover the delegation’s visit.
Citing “Chinese experts,” the article said the People’s Liberation Army military exercises in Taiwan have sent out a “loud and clear warning signal.” Yet some US 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 worsen regional peace with endless provocations,” wrote Global Times.
The outlet also quoted Zhang Tengjun — deputy director of the Asia-Pacific studies division at the China Institute of International Studies — as saying that the delegation arrived in a “sneaky and unobtrusive manner” that “showed their trepidation at anger from mainland China.” to generate. ”
