US MPs make surprise visit to Taiwan | Abroad

According to the American Institute in Taiwan, de facto the American embassy in Taipei, this is a two-day visit as part of a tour of the large region of the Indian and Pacific Oceans. The agenda includes discussions on trade and investment.

According to the Taiwanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the delegation will meet President Tsai Ing-wen and Foreign Minister Joseph Wu for coffee. The visiting MPs come from both chambers of parliament and both parties. These are House Senator Ed Markey and John Garamendi, Alan Lowenthal, Don Beyer (Democrats) and Aumua Amata Coleman Radewagen (Republicans).

Beijing did not finish military exercises until Wednesday following a visit to Taiwan by Nancy Pelosi last week. These involved large-scale military exercises around the island republic, which included practicing a possible conquest of the island.

The Chinese leaders reject official contacts of other countries with Taiwan because they consider the island part of the People’s Republic. On the other hand, Taiwan considers itself independent. In the years following World War II, Mao Zedong’s Chinese communists had driven Chiang Kai-shek’s nationalists from the mainland to Taiwan.

Washington broke official relations with Taiwan in 1979, when it recognized Beijing as the sole Chinese representative. On the other hand, the US has remained Taipei’s biggest ally, also as an arms supplier.