A delegation of US lawmakers arrived in Taiwan on Sunday, less than two weeks after House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s trip angered China and sparked fears of a military crisis in the Taiwan Strait. Five members of Congress, led by Sen. Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.), are expected to meet with President Tsai Ing-wen and other senior 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 the lawmakers will 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 reducing tensions in the Taiwan Strait and expanding economic cooperation, including investment in semiconductors,” a spokesman for Sen. Markey said in a statement. Pelosi’s visit in early August led to heightened tensions in US-China relations. The Chinese conducted military exercises off Taiwan, including launching missiles that landed in the surrounding waters. Chinese President Xi Jinping’s government also suspended talks with the United States on military issues and climate change, a move that foreign policy experts feared could jeopardize progress at a global climate summit in November . For Beijing, Pelosi’s high-level meetings in Taiwan were an insult. China claims the democratically administered island as its own territory. During her trip, the speaker offered assurances of American support, saying one of the purposes of the trip was “to show the world the success of the Taiwanese people, the courage to change their country, to become more democratic.” . As of Sunday afternoon, China’s Foreign Ministry had not issued any reaction to the latest delegation visit. Taiwan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs tweeted a photo of the delegation’s meeting with Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Tah-ray Yui and hailed the lawmakers’ visit 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 heavy delegation to visit Taiwan, showing a friendship unafraid of China’s threats and intimidation and underscoring strong US support for Taiwan”. Taiwan’s ministry said in a statement. The congressional delegation visiting the island this week includes House Democrats John Garamedi and Alan Lowenthal of California and Don Beyer of Virginia. It also includes Republican Rep. Aumua Amata Coleman Radewagen, a representative from American Samoa, according to Markey’s spokesman. The state-owned nationalist Global Times tabloid was among the first Chinese media to report on the delegation’s visit. Citing “Chinese experts”, the article said the People’s Liberation Army’s military exercises around Taiwan have sent a “strong and clear warning signal”. However, some US politicians are ‘playing with fire’ to serve their own political interests,” the article continued. “The international community can clearly see who the troublemaker is who always ignores warnings and continues to worsen regional peace with endless provocations,” Global Times wrote. The publication also quoted Zhang Tengjun – deputy director of the department of Asia-Pacific studies at the China Institute of International Studies – who said the delegation arrived in a “sneaky and covert manner” that “exposed their difficulty in provoking anger from mainland China . “
