U.S. lawmakers visit Taiwan, plan to meet senior leaders

The lawmakers from the U.S. House of Representatives arrived in Taiwan on November 25 night and will meet with senior leaders on the island

President Joe Biden listens as he meets virtually with Chinese President Xi Jinping from the Roosevelt Room of the White House in Washington, November 15, 2021. The Biden administration has invited Taiwan to its upcoming Summit for Democracy, prompting sharp criticism from China, which considers the self-ruled island as its territory. The invitation list features 110 countries, including Taiwan, but does not include China or Russia

Five U.S. lawmakers are in Taiwan on November 26 in a surprise one-day visit, said the American Institute in Taiwan, the de facto embassy.

The lawmakers from the U.S. House of Representatives arrived in Taiwan on November 25 night and will meet with senior leaders on the island. No further details were provided about their itinerary.

The visit comes as tensions between Taiwan and China have risen to their highest level in decades. Taiwan has been self-ruled since the two sides split during a civil war in 1949, but China considers the island part of its own territory.

“Just touched down in the Republic of Taiwan,” tweeted Republican Representative Nancy Mace of South Carolina on November 25 night, using the island's unofficial name.

Representatives Mark Takano, D-Calif., Elissa Slotkin, D-Mich., Colin Allred, D-Texas., Sara Jacobs, D-Calif. and Ms. Mace are all part of the visiting delegation.

The trip comes just a few weeks after a group of six Republican lawmakers visited the island. That congressional delegation met with President Tsai Ing-wen, National Security Secretary General Wellington Koo and Foreign Minister Joseph Wu, among others.

It’s the third visit by U.S. lawmakers this year. In June, three members of Congress flew to Taiwan to donate badly needed vaccines at a time when the island was struggling to get enough.

The Biden administration has also invited Taiwan to a Summit for Democracy next month, a move that drew a sharp rebuke from China.

China's Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said on November 24, "What the U.S. did proves that the so-called democracy is just a pretext and tool for it to pursue geopolitical goals, suppress other countries, divide the world, serve its own interest and maintain its hegemony in the world.”