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American parliamentarians arrived in Taiwan on Sunday where they are to meet President Tsai Ing-wen and Foreign Minister Joseph Wu. Beijing, already burned by the previous visit of the patron of the American House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi, reacted by calling on Washington to “stop playing with fire”.
A US congressional delegation arrived in Taiwan on Sunday August 14, shortly after extensive Chinese military maneuvers around the island triggered by the visit of the Speaker of the US House of Representatives. The unannounced five-person visit is scheduled to last until Monday, according to the American Institute in Taiwan, the de facto US embassy on the island.
China responded angrily to this visit as well. The official Xinhua News Agency published a commentary with the title: “US Politicians Should Stop Playing with Fire on Taiwan Issue.”
The visit comes days after the end of Beijing’s largest-ever military maneuvers around Taiwan, in response to a visit by US House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi that had enraged China.
Taipei has accused China of using Nancy Pelosi’s visit as an excuse to practice an invasion. In response, the United States reaffirmed its commitment to the region.
The American parliamentarians – a senator and four representatives, Democrats and a Republican – will notably meet President Tsai Ing-wen and Foreign Minister Joseph Wu, according to the Taiwanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs. They will discuss “US-Taiwan relations, regional security issues, trade and investment, climate change,” the US Institute said in a statement.
“Friendship”
The Taiwanese Foreign Minister welcomed the visit in a statement: “As China continues to escalate tensions in the region, the United States Congress has again sent a high-level delegation to Taiwan, demonstrating a friendship that continues to n is unfazed by China’s threats and underscores the United States’ strong support for Taiwan.”
Members of the delegation are Massachusetts Senator Ed Markey and Representatives Alan Lowenthal (California, Democrat), John Garamendi (California, Democrat), Don Beyer (Virginia, Democrat) and Aumua Amata Coleman Radewagen (Samoa, Republican), a specified the American Institute.
China considers Taiwan, with a population of around 23 million, to be one of its provinces, which it has yet to successfully reunify with the rest of its territory since the end of the Chinese Civil War ( 1949). Opposed to any initiative giving the Taiwanese authorities international legitimacy, Beijing is against any official contact between Taiwan and other countries.
White paper and red lines
The Taiwan Affairs Bureau, a Chinese government agency, released a “white paper” on Wednesday detailing how Beijing plans to take over the island, including through economic incentives.
“We are willing to create a broad space (of cooperation) in order to achieve peaceful reunification,” the document said. “But we will leave no room for separatist actions aimed at pseudo-independence for Taiwan.”
“Force would be used as a last resort, in compelling circumstances. We would be forced to take drastic measures in the face of provocations by separatists or outside forces, should they cross our red lines,” the White Paper added.
Washington responded on Friday by announcing a strengthening of its trade relations with Taiwan and new air and sea crossings in the strait, in response to China’s “provocative” actions.
With AFP
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