China announced more military exercises around Taiwan as the self-ruled island’s president met with members of a new US congressional delegation on Monday, threatening to renew tensions between Beijing and Washington after a similar recent visit by US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who angered China. Pelosi was the highest-ranking member of the US administration to visit Taiwan in 25 years, and her trip led to nearly two weeks of threatening military exercises by China, which claims the island as its own. In those drills, Beijing fired missiles over the island and into the Taiwan Strait and sent warplanes and navy ships to the middle of the waterway, which has long been a bulwark between the sides divided amid civil war war in 1949. China accuses the US of encouraging the island’s independence through arms sales and entanglement between US politicians and the island’s government. Washington says it does not support independence, has no formal diplomatic ties to the island and maintains the two sides should resolve their dispute peacefully — but is legally bound to ensure the island can defend itself against any attack. US and Taiwanese officials have accused China of using Pelosi’s visit as a pretext for bullying, and a senior US official recently said Washington would continue to deepen ties with Taiwan in the coming days and weeks. The latest trip began Sunday with little advance notice — and drew more ire from China. The expedition was due to depart late on Monday. “China will take decisive and strong measures to defend national sovereignty and territorial integrity,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said at a daily briefing on Monday, after Beijing announced new drills in the seas and skies around from Taiwan. “A handful of American politicians, in collusion with Taiwan independence separatist forces, are trying to challenge the one-China principle, which is out of its depth and doomed to fail.” The new drills were intended to be a “decisive response and serious deterrent against US-Taiwan collusion and provocation,” the defense ministry said earlier. It was unclear if the new drills had already begun, as the ministry did not provide details on where and when they would be held, unlike previous rounds. US lawmakers, led by Democratic Sen. Ed Markey of Massachusetts, met with President Tsai Ing-wen, Foreign Minister Joseph Wu and lawmakers, according to the American Institute in Taiwan, Washington’s de facto embassy on the island. In their meeting, Tsai said her government was working with allies to ensure stability across the Taiwan Strait and maintain the status quo — a reference to the island’s self-rule, separate from Beijing. “Russia’s invasion of Ukraine earlier this year demonstrated the threat that authoritarian nations pose to the global order,” Tsai said. Markey responded by saying that Washington and Taipei had a “moral obligation to do everything we can to prevent an unnecessary conflict, and Taiwan has shown incredible restraint and discretion in difficult times.” The senator also highlighted legislation aimed at strengthening political and economic ties with Taiwan, especially in the critical semiconductor industry. Taiwan is a critical supplier of computer chips to the global economy, including China’s high-tech sectors, and beyond the geopolitical risks of heightened tensions in the region, a widespread crisis across the Taiwan Straits could have major implications for international supply chains whenever the world is already facing turmoil and uncertainty. Markey is one of the few members of Congress still serving who voted in favor of the Taiwan Relations Act of 1979 that ensured continued relations with the island after US diplomatic recognition switched from Taipei to Beijing. 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. China says it wants to use peaceful means to bring Taiwan under its control, but its recent saber rattling has underscored its threat to take the island by military force. The earlier drills appeared to be a rehearsal for a blockade or attack on Taiwan that would force the cancellation of commercial flights and disrupt shipping to Taiwan’s main ports as well as cargo passing through the Taiwan Strait, one of the busiest shipping lanes. lanes in the world. The drills prompted Taiwan to put its military on alert, but were largely met with disdain or apathy among a public accustomed to living in China’s shadow. The US “visit at this time is of great importance because the Chinese military exercise is (intended) to deter US lawmakers from visiting Taiwan,” said Luo Chih-cheng, chairman of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee. of Taiwan, after the meeting. with US lawmakers. “Their visit this time proves that China cannot prevent politicians from any country from visiting Taiwan, and also conveys an important message that the American people stand by the Taiwanese people,” Lo said. A senior White House Asia policy official said last week that China used Pelosi’s visit as an excuse to launch an intensified pressure campaign against Taiwan. “China overreacted and its actions continue to be provocative, destabilizing and unprecedented,” Kurt Campbell, deputy assistant to US President Joe Biden, said in a call with reporters on Friday. Campbell said the U.S. will send warships and planes through the Taiwan Strait in the coming weeks and is developing a roadmap for trade talks with Taiwan that he said the U.S. plans to announce in the coming days.
