5-member US Congress delegation lands in Taiwan, meets President
The meeting takes place less than two weeks after Pelosi's visit, in the latest US attempt to provoke Beijing.
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A delegation from the US Congress led by Senator Ed Markey arrived on a two-day visit to Taiwan. (AFP)
Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen met with a US Congress delegation, less than two weeks after US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi highly controversial visit to Taiwan. The president's meeting with the delegation reels in US lawmakers' support for the island - a further provocation to China.
Taiwanese media reported on the delegation arriving for talks, but no details were revealed.
The delegation, which consists of five members, is led by Democratic Senator Ed Markey of Massachusetts, as the group will be meeting other government and private sector representatives. Topics of discussion at the top of the agenda are expected to be reduction of tension in the Taiwan Strait, in addition to investment in Taiwan's semiconductor industry.
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The other members of the delegation include Republican Rep. Aumua Amata Coleman Radewagen, a delegate from American Samoa, and Democrats John Garamendi and Alan Lowenthal from California and Don Beyer from Virginia.
On Sunday, the Chinese military sent 22 military aircraft and six vessels to the Taiwan Strait, with 11 jets being detected in Taiwan's southwestern air defense identification zone (SW ADIZ), the island's ministry of national defense said.
The ministry added that 11 of the said aircraft "had flown on the east part of the median line of the Taiwan Strait" while staying in the island's SW ADIZ.
In early August, US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi visited Taipei while on an Asia tour despite warnings from China, which considers Taiwan part of its territory and opposes any direct official foreign contacts with the island. She was the first highest-ranking US official to visit Taiwan in 25 years.
The visit triggered a new round of tensions in the Taiwan Strait. In addition to the launch of military exercises, Beijing had imposed sanctions against two Taiwanese foundations for separatist activities, suspended the export of natural sand to the island and the import of citrus fruits, as well as certain types of fish products from Taiwan.
