US lawmakers meet Taiwanese president as China seethes

United States lawmakers were scheduled to meet with Taiwan’s president Monday after China responded to a similar visit by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi with massive military drills that raised fears of a conflict.

The unannounced two-day trip came after Beijing sent warships, missiles and jets into the waters and skies around Taiwan, a self-governing democracy that China’s leaders claim and one day hope to conquer.

The five-member congressional delegation — led by Massachusetts Sen. Ed Markey — was scheduled to hold a meeting with President Tsai Ing-wen Monday morning, followed by a banquet at the State Department.

Their visit will focus on trade, regional security and climate change, Washington’s de facto embassy in Taipei said.

Taiwan’s foreign ministry hailed the visit as another sign of friendship between Taipei and Washington “which is not afraid of China’s threats and intimidation.”

But the bipartisan trip drew another scathing reaction from Beijing, which has halted drills but continued with military patrols across the Taiwan Strait.

The state-run Xinhua News Agency issued an op-ed entitled “US Politicians Should Stop Playing with Fire on Taiwan Issue” following the arrival of lawmakers on Sunday.

It called visiting American lawmakers opportunists pondering their own political interests as November’s midterm elections drew near.

“Those US politicians who are playing with fire on the Taiwan issue should drop their wishful thinking,” the agency said.

“There is no room for compromise or concession when it comes to China’s core interests,” it said.

The Taiwanese government has accused Beijing of using Pelosi’s visit as an excuse to launch drills that would allow it to rehearse for an invasion.

China’s Communist Party has never ruled Taiwan but says it will use force to take the island if necessary.

That decades-old threat was reiterated in a white paper released last week, when China’s Bureau of Taiwan Affairs said it “will not refrain from the use of force” against its neighbor and “reserves the option to take any action necessary.” “.

However, it added: “We will only be forced to take drastic measures to respond to the provocation of separatist elements or external forces should they ever cross our red lines.”

Pelosi has acknowledged her visit, but President Joe Biden said the US military is opposed to the trip of his fellow Democrat, who is second in line to the presidency after the vice president.

Congress is constitutionally an equal arm of government, with lawmakers free to travel where they please, and Taiwan enjoying bipartisan support in divided Washington.

In 1979, the United States shifted diplomatic relations from Taipei to Beijing.

But it remains a key ally of Taiwan and maintains de facto diplomatic ties with Taipei.

Washington’s official policy opposes both Taiwan’s declaration of independence and China’s forcible change in the island’s status.

It remains deliberately ambiguous as to whether Taiwan would rush to military aid if China were to invade.

Visits to Taiwan by senior US officials have been going on for decades, and even Pelosi’s trip was not without precedent – former House Speaker Newt Gingrich visited Taiwan in 1997.

But the frequency and profile of US visits has increased under both former President Donald Trump and Biden.

Taiwan has also seen a spate of delegation visits from Europe and other Western allies in recent years, partly in response to Beijing’s more aggressive stance under Chinese President Xi Jinping.