Taiwan: A second delegation of the American Congress led by Ed Markey goes to Taipei

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The new five-member delegation is visiting the self-governing island in a bid to “reaffirm U.S. support for Taiwan” and “will promote stability and peace in the Taiwan Strait,” a spokesperson for Markey said in a statement. a statement.

The delegation includes Democratic Representatives John Garamendi, Alan Lowenthal and Don Beyer, and Republican Representative Aumua Amata Coleman Radewagen, the statement added.

The Markey-led group will meet Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen and Foreign Minister Joseph Wu during the visit, and will also hold talks with the Taiwanese Parliament’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee on security issues. and commerce, the Taiwanese foreign ministry said. .

The Foreign Ministry added that it sincerely welcomed the delegation and thanked them for showing strong US support for Taiwan despite escalating tensions with Beijing.

The senator’s spokesperson said the delegation “will meet with elected leaders and members of the private sector to discuss common interests, including reducing tensions in the Taiwan Strait and expanding economic cooperation, including investments in semiconductors.

China retaliated against the visit, saying it would take “resolute countermeasures in response to US provocations”, in a statement issued by the Chinese Embassy in Washington on Sunday.

“Members of the US Congress should act in accordance with the US Government’s One China Policy,” Embassy spokesperson Liu Pengyu said on Twitter.

Liu said China “strongly opposes any kind of official ties” between the United States and Taiwan, and the latest Congressional delegation visit “proves that the United States does not want to see stability through across the Taiwan Strait and spared no effort to stir up confrontation between the two sides and interfere in China’s internal affairs.”

China’s ruling Chinese Communist Party considers Taiwan to be part of its territory, although it has never controlled it, and has long pledged to ‘reunify’ the island with the Chinese mainland, by force. if necessary. Prior to Pelosi’s visit, Beijing had repeatedly warned of dire consequences if the trip continued – even going so far as to warn US President Joe Biden that those who played with fire would “perish” by it.

During her trip to Taiwan, Pelosi, a Democrat from California, said the visit was meant to make it “unequivocally” clear that the United States would “not abandon” the democratically-ruled island.

China responded to the speaker’s trip by launching military drills, which China’s Defense Ministry said began with drills in the seas and airspace surrounding Taiwan. In addition to the drills, Beijing canceled future phone calls between Chinese and US defense leaders, suspended bilateral climate talks and sanctioned Pelosi and his immediate family.

The White House has summoned the Chinese Ambassador to condemn the military activities and underscore the United States’ desire to avert a crisis in the region. The White House said there was no change in the US “One China” policy and that Washington recognized the People’s Republic of China as China’s only legitimate government.

The United States maintains close unofficial ties with Taiwan and is required by law to supply Taiwan with defensive weapons. But he remains deliberately vague about whether he would defend Taiwan in the event of a Chinese invasion, a policy known as “strategic ambiguity”.

This story has been updated with additional background information.

CNN’s Daniella Diaz, Jeremy Herb, Wayne Chang and Rhea Mogul contributed to this report.

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