The unannounced two-day trip came after Beijing sent warships, missiles and jets into the waters and skies around Taiwan, a self-governing republic that China’s leaders claim and have vowed to one day occupy. The five-member congressional delegation – led by Sen. Ed Markey of Massachusetts – was scheduled to meet with President Tsai Ing-wen on Monday morning, followed by a banquet at the State Department. Their visit will focus on trade, regional security and climate change, Washington’s de facto embassy in Taipei said. Taiwan’s foreign ministry hailed the visit as another sign of friendship between Taipei and Washington “not afraid of China’s threats and intimidation”. But the two-party trip sparked another scathing response from Beijing, which has withdrawn its drills but continues military patrols in the Taiwan Strait. The state-run Xinhua news agency published a commentary after the lawmakers’ arrival on Sunday titled “US politicians should stop playing with fire on the Taiwan issue.” He called visiting US lawmakers opportunists looking out for their own political interests as November’s midterm elections approach. “Those US politicians who are playing with fire on the Taiwan issue should give up their wishful thinking,” the agency said. “There is no room for compromise or concessions when it comes to China’s core interests.” Taiwan’s government has accused Beijing of using Pelosi’s visit as an excuse to begin exercises that would allow it to rehearse for an invasion. China’s Communist Party has never ruled Taiwan, but says it will use force if necessary to take over the island. That decades-old threat was reiterated in a white paper released last week, when China’s Taiwan Affairs Office said it “will not refrain from using force” against its neighbor and reserved “the option to take all necessary measures.” However, he added: “We will only be forced to take drastic measures to respond to the provocation of separatist elements or external forces if they ever cross our red lines.” Pelosi stayed on her visit, but President Joe Biden said the US military opposed the trip by the fellow Democrat, who is second in line for the presidency after the vice president. Congress is a constitutionally co-equal branch of government with lawmakers free to travel as they please, and Taiwan enjoys bipartisan support in divided Washington. The US switched diplomatic relations from Taipei to Beijing in 1979. However, it remains a key ally of Taiwan and maintains de facto diplomatic relations with Taipei. Washington’s official policy opposes both Taiwan’s declaration of independence and China’s forcible change in the island’s status quo. It remains deliberately vague about whether it would come militarily to Taiwan’s aid if China invaded. Visits by top US officials to Taiwan have been going on for decades, and even Pelosi’s trip was not without precedent – previous House Speaker Newt Gingrich visited in 1997. But the frequency and profile of visits to the US have risen under both former President Donald Trump and Biden. Taiwan has also seen a flurry of delegation visits from Europe and other Western allies in recent years, partly in response to Beijing’s more aggressive stance under the Chinese president. Xi Jinping.
