TAIPEI: Another group of United States lawmakers will arrive in Taiwan on Thursday (Aug 25) evening, Taiwan’s official Central News Agency reported, the third such visit this month and defying pressure from Beijing for these trips not to take place.
China, which claims Taiwan as its own territory against the strong objections of the democratically-elected government in Taipei, launched military drills near the island after US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi came in early August.
The Central News Agency did not name the lawmakers who were coming on Thursday, saying only that they would arrive on a US military aircraft at Taipei’s downtown Songshan airport and would meet Taiwan’s President Tsai Ing-wen on Friday.
Taiwan’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement that “important guests” would arrive after 11pm at Songshan airport. It gave no details and declined to comment further.
The de facto US embassy in Taipei declined to comment.