US lawmakers in Taiwan on heels of Pelosi visit

Twelve days after a controversial trip by United States House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to Taiwan, more US lawmakers were visiting the self-ruled island.

A five-member delegation, led by Senator Ed Markey, arrived in Taiwan on Sunday for a meeting with President Tsai Ing-wen and to attend a banquet hosted by Foreign Minister Joseph Wu.

China, which regards Taiwan as a breakaway province, has been holding the biggest-ever military exercises around the island to express its anger at Pelosi's visit.

Taiwan's foreign ministry hailed the delegation's visit as another sign of warm ties between Taipei and Washington.

"As China is continuing to escalate tensions in the region, the US Congress has again organized a heavyweight delegation to visit Taiwan, showing a friendship that is not afraid of China's threats and intimidation, and highlighting the US' strong support towards Taiwan."

US support for Taiwan

The other members of the delegation were Democrats John Garamendi and Alan Lowenthal of California, Don Beyer of Virginia and Republican Aumua Amata Coleman Radewagen from American Samoa, the de facto US embassy in Taipei said.

Markey, who leads the delegation, chairs the US Senate Foreign Relations East Asia, Pacific, and International Cybersecurity Subcommittee.

His office said the lawmakers would "reaffirm the United States' support for Taiwan," but would also "encourage stability and peace across the Taiwan Strait."

The Chinese government objects to Taiwan having any official contact with foreign governments.

While Beijing's drills around Taiwan have decreased, it carried out military activities on Sunday.

Taiwan's Defence Ministry said it had detected 22 Chinese aircraft and six naval ships in and around the Taiwan Strait.

lo/aw (AP, AFP, Reuters)