More US lawmakers visiting Taiwan twelve days after Pelosi trip
Just 12 days after US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan, which infuriated China, a delegation of American politicians is visiting Taiwan.
According to the American Institute in Taiwan, the five-person delegation, led by Democratic Sen. Ed Markey of Massachusetts, will meet with senior officials to discuss US-Taiwan ties, regional security, trade, investment, and other problems. The institute speaks for the American government, which maintains no formal relations with Taiwan.
After Pelosi’s visit on August 2, China—which asserts Taiwan is its territory—responded by launching missiles, battleships, and aircraft over Taiwan for several days. The Chinese government is against Taiwan interacting on an official level with other countries, especially with a powerful congresswoman like Pelosi.
A U.S. government plane was seen in video landing at Songshan Airport in Taipei, the capital of Taiwan, around 7 p.m. on Sunday. The American Institute quickly after announcing the delegation will be in Taiwan on Sunday and Monday as part of a tour to Asia released a brief statement, however it wasn’t confirmed who was on board.
Republican Rep. Aumua Amata Coleman Radewagen, an American Samoan representative, and Democratic House members John Garamendi, Alan Lowenthal, and Don Beyer, all from California, round up the delegation. Even after the military drills were over, Chinese aeroplanes continued to fly over the Taiwan Strait’s midpoint every day, with at least ten of them doing so on Sunday, according to Taiwan’s Defense Ministry.
By 5 o’clock in the afternoon, 22 Chinese military aircraft and six naval ships had been spotted in the vicinity of Taiwan. The ministry said on its Twitter account on Sunday