In this photo released by Taiwan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, U.S. Democratic Senator Ed Markey of Massachusetts, left, poses for photos with Taiwan’s Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Tah-ray Yui after arriving at Taoyuan International Airport near Taipei, Taiwan on Sunday, August 14, 2022. Markey is leading a delegation of US lawmakers visiting Taiwan just 12 days after a visit by US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi that angered China. (Taiwan Ministry of Foreign Affairs via AP) A delegation of US lawmakers arrived in Taiwan on Sunday, just 12 days after a visit by US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi that prompted an angry China to launch days of threatening military exercises around the self-ruled island that Beijing says should be brought under his control. The five-member delegation, led by Democratic Sen. Ed Markey of Massachusetts, will meet with President Tsai Ing-wen and other officials to discuss US-Taiwan relations, regional security, trade, investment and other issues, the US said. Institute in Taiwan. The institute represents the US government, which has no official ties to Taiwan. China responded to Pelosi’s Aug. 2 visit by sending missiles, warships and warplanes into the seas and skies around Taiwan for several days afterward. The Chinese government opposes Taiwan’s official contact with foreign governments, particularly a senior congressional leader like Pelosi. A Taiwanese broadcaster showed video of a US government plane landing at about 7pm on Sunday at Songshan Airport in Taipei, the capital of Taiwan. There were four members of the mission on the plane. Marky arrived on a separate flight to Taoyuan International Airport, which also serves Taipei. The team will be in Taiwan until Monday as part of its Asia trip, the American Institute said. The other members of the delegation are the Republican Dem. Chinese warplanes continued to cross the middle of the Taiwan Strait on a daily basis even after military exercises ended last Wednesday, with at least 10 doing so on Sunday, Taiwan’s defense ministry said. The 10 fighter jets were among 22 Chinese military aircraft and six navy ships spotted in the area around Taiwan by 5pm on Sunday, the ministry said on its Twitter account. A senior White House official on Asia policy said late last week that China had used Pelosi’s visit as a pretext to launch an intensified pressure campaign against Taiwan, endangering peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait and in the area. “China overreacted and its actions continue to be provocative, destabilizing and unprecedented,” Kurt Campbell, deputy assistant to President Joe Biden, said on a call with reporters. “It sought to ignore the central line between the PRC and Taiwan, which both sides have respected for more than 60 years as a stabilizing feature,” he said, using the acronym for the country’s full name, the People’s Republic of China. China accuses the US of encouraging independence forces in Taiwan through the sale of military equipment to the island and its ties to its officials. The US says it does not support Taiwan independence, but that its differences with China should be resolved through peaceful means. China’s ruling Communist Party has long said it favors Taiwan’s peaceful integration into China, but that it would not rule out violence if necessary. The two were separated in 1949 during a civil war in which the Communists took control of China and the defeated Nationalists retreated to the island of Taiwan. Campbell, speaking on Friday, said the US will send warships and planes through the Taiwan Strait in the coming weeks and is developing a road map for trade talks with Taiwan that he said the US plans to announce in the coming days.
