Five U.S. lawmakers, including Sen. Ed Markey (D-MA), landed in Taiwan early Sunday to discuss reducing tensions in the Taiwan Strait, the sea between Taiwan and China and possible investments in semiconductors. The visit comes 12 days after a visit to the country by U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi sparked a series of Chinese military drills around the island. In October 2021, China's President Xi Jinping said that reunification with the independent nation “must be fulfilled,” according to BBC. China rejects any Taiwanese involvement with foreign governments, and the Aug. 2 visit with Pelosi prompted a series of missiles, warships and warplanes into Taiwanese territories for days following her arrival. “China has overreacted, and its actions continue to be provocative, destabilizing, and unprecedented," said Kurt Campbell, deputy assistant to the president, in an Aug. 12 White House press briefing, adding that the U.S. will continue to conduct “standard air and maritime transits through the Taiwan Strait in the next few weeks.”
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