A delegation of US lawmakers arrived on the island of Taiwan on Sunday, August 14 – just 12 days after the visit of US House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

A five-member delegation led by Senator Ed Markey (D-Massachusetts) will meet with Taiwan’s Chief of Staff Tsai Ing-wen, other officials and the private sector to discuss common interests including Taiwan Strait mitigation and investment in semiconductors, the specified agency AP.

The visit will last two days.

Taiwan Broadcasting Company aired footage showing a US government plane landing at around 19:00 local time (14:00 GMT) at Songshan Airport in Taipei. There were four members of the delegation on the plane.

Ed Markey had previously met with South Korean President Yoon Seok Yeol before arriving on a separate flight to Taiwan’s Taoyuan International Airport.

The Democrat chairs the US Senate Subcommittee on Foreign Relations with East Asia and the Pacific and International Cybersecurity. Other members of the delegation are Amata Coleman Radewagen (R-American Samoa), John Garamendi and Alan Lowenthal (D-California) and Don Beyer (D-Virginia). The visit will last for two days – August 14th and 15th.

Tensions between the US and China over Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan

Nancy Pelosi flew in for a one-day visit to Taiwan on August 2. She became the first speaker of the US House of Representatives in 25 years to visit the island, whose independence Beijing does not recognize and which it considers one of China’s provinces.

The White House and Pelosi herself stressed that the trip did not signify a change in US policy towards Taiwan. Beijing, however, strongly criticized the visit, and after Pelosi’s departure, the Chinese army began the previously announced air and sea military exercises in the area of ​​the island. Taiwan’s Defense Ministry called the Chinese maneuvers extremely provocative and announced the deployment of land-based missile systems.

Beijing, after the American’s visit, partially suspended trade with Taiwan. China’s Foreign Ministry said the PRC is suspending cooperation with the United States in a number of areas, including climate change, drug control, transnational crime, legal assistance in criminal cases and repatriation of illegal immigrants. China has imposed sanctions on Pelosi and her family members, saying she “interfered in China’s internal affairs” and violated the country’s “territorial integrity”.