EXPLANATION: Why do US lawmakers’ trips to Taiwan continue to irritate China?

WASHINGTON (AP) — Taiwan ranks high on the summer travel list for members of the U.S. Congress on their August recess this year, as U.S. lawmakers insist on affirming U.S. support for the island. autonomous despite China’s objections. Reward photos from this week’s five-member congressional visit, like that of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi less than two weeks earlier, are meant to be a direct message to China: newly arrived lawmakers disembarking at the runway at Taipei International Airport, greeted by smiling Taiwanese. officials pleased with American support.

Senator Ed Markey, a Democrat from Massachusetts, was wrapping up the second US congressional delegation there this month on Monday. Pelosi had been the highest-ranking US official in a quarter-century to visit Taiwan.underscoring the long-standing US policy of solidarity with the island’s democratically elected leaders.

china claims Taiwan as part of its territory. View any visit by US officials as recognition of the island’s sovereignty.

So far, China’s response to Markey’s delegation has been more muted than it was two weeks ago, when Beijing launched days of intense military exercises around Taiwan and froze some ties with the US government over Pelosi’s visit.

A look at some key questions about US lawmakers’ Taiwan trips and why they matter.

WHY DID MORE LEGISLATORS TRAVEL TO TAIWAN THIS MONTH?

In part, to show that they can and will. Pelosi framed his trip to Taiwan as part of an obligation on American leaders to defend the world’s democratic movements against authoritarian governments. The mission itself is, in many ways, the message to lawmakers, vividly demonstrating that they will maintain US ties with Taiwan despite threats from China, which under President Xi Jinping is becoming increasingly conflictive in making broad territorial claims in the region.

Taiwan and mainland China were separated during a civil war in 1949. But China claims the island as its own territory and has not ruled out using military force to take it over.

The United States recognizes Beijing as the government of China but maintains informal diplomatic, defense and trade ties with democratic Taiwan.

Markey, a congressional veteran of more than 40 years, was one of the signers of the Taiwan Relations Act of 1979. The law promised continued US relations with the Taiwanese.

In a meeting with President Tsai Ing-wen on Sunday, Markey pledged “support for peace and stability in Taiwan as they face mounting authoritarian pressure from Beijing,” according to a statement from his office.

But Markey also expressed the United States’ desire to avoid unnecessary conflict in the region and praised Taiwan for its restraint as tensions with China mounted over Pelosi’s trip.

HOW DID CHINA REACT?

China Responded to the News of Markey’s Five-Member U.S. Congressional Delegation announcing new exercises in the seas and skies that surround Taiwan.

It was not clear if the new drills had already started. Officials did not give details on where and when they would take place.

When Pelosi visited, Beijing fired missiles over the island and into the Taiwan Strait and sent warplanes and navy ships through the median line of the waterway, long a buffer between the sides.

“China will take firm and resolute measures to uphold national sovereignty and territorial integrity,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin told a daily briefing on Monday. “A handful of US politicians, in cahoots with Taiwan independence separatist forces, are trying to challenge the one-China principle, which is out of their hands and doomed to fail.”

HOW HAS BIDEN RESPONDED?

President Joe Biden has called China’s unusually aggressive response to Pelosi’s visit unwarranted and said the United States is sticking to its decades-old “one China” policy. That includes not intending to recognize Taiwan as independent, but also not supporting any efforts by China to change the status quo between Taipei and Beijing.

The latest congressional delegation traveled with far less attention than Pelosi’s, and the White House has been quieter, too. He has not commented, but State Department spokesman Ned Price was asked Monday.

“Any response to a peaceful visit by members of Congress, any response that involves bellicose rhetoric or military maneuvers or provocative actions is wholly unnecessary and an outright overreaction,” Price said.

Kurt Campbell, Biden’s Indo-Pacific affairs coordinator, stressed late last week that the US will continue to take steps of its own in the coming weeks and months to demonstrate and deepen support for Taiwanese leaders.

That includes an upcoming announcement on Taiwan-US trade and US military movements across the Taiwan Strait.

ARE THE CONGRESS DELEGATIONS IN TAIWAN UNIQUE?

No problem. Price said there have been 10 this year alone. With one notable exception, that of Pelosi, they are carried out with little public attention.

Administration officials had argued in the context of Pelosi’s trip that congressional visits to Taiwan are business as usual, accusing Beijing of stirring up tensions with caustic rhetoric.

Several officials noted that the Chinese reaction to Markey’s trip was much more subdued than Pelosi’s. They also suggested that it could be a sign that China is returning to its usual opposition to congressional trips to the island and warned that ongoing Chinese military exercises in the Taiwan Strait remain a cause for concern.

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AP diplomatic writer Matthew Lee contributed to this report.

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