Taiwanese media indicated the delegation had arrived for the talks, but details of the meeting were not immediately released. It comes less than two weeks after US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan sparked days of threatening military exercises by China, including firing missiles over the island and into the Taiwan Strait. China has also sent warplanes and naval vessels along the middle waterway, which has long been a reserve between the sides that split amid a civil war in 1949. China considers official contacts between U.S. politicians and the island’s government in support of its independence from Beijing. China says it wants to use peaceful means to bring Taiwan under its control, but its recent saber rattling has highlighted its military threat. The five-member delegation is headed by Democratic Sen. Ed Markey of Massachusetts and is scheduled to meet with other government and private sector representatives. Easing Taiwan Strait tensions and investment in Taiwan’s critical semiconductor industry are expected to be key topics of discussion. The other members of the delegation are Republican Rep. Aumua Amata Coleman Radewagen, a representative from American Samoa, and Democrats John Garamendi and Alan Lowenthal of California and Don Beyer of Virginia.
