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The friendship between Taiwan and the United States has been getting stronger lately. The pace of friendship led to the second U.S. delegation visiting Taiwan this month. This time the U.S. official delegation consisted of congressmen led by Senator Ed Markey.
Markey is associated with Taiwan at certain points in his biography. In 1979 he voted for the Taiwan Relations Act, just at a time when PRC-US relations were very strained.
“Markey’s visit to Taiwan at the head of a delegation further demonstrates the strong support for the island by the U.S. Congress, especially at a time when China is escalating tensions in the Taiwan Strait and the region as a whole through military exercises,” the U.S. officials said in a statement timed to coincide with the visit.
At the same time, on the official level, the U.S. does not support Taiwan’s independence, which is very controversial politicy.
The delegation was welcomed at Taipei airport by Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs Yu Dalei, who has known Senator Markey for a long time. The visit lasted two days on August 14 and 15, and was one of the venues for another US Indo-Pacific Tour. This time the delegation included 5 officials: Democrats John Garamendi, Alan Lowenthal, Don Beyer, and Republican Amata Coleman Radwagen.
The topics of discussion were all the same as they had been previously between the U.S. and Taiwanese sides: U.S.-Taiwan relations, security in the region, trade and investment, supply chains, and so on. U.S. officials personally spoke with Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen on these topics.
The visit could not go without Beijing’s reaction. China was in any case planning to continue the exercises after Nancy Pelosi visits the island. However, this level of impudence on the part of the United States prompted Beijing not only to increase the intensity of training but also to increase the amount of equipment used.
” The Eastern Command has organized joint patrols and combat readiness checks during exercises in the sea and air space around the island of Taiwan, which is a decisive response and deterrence of American-Taiwanese collusion and provocations. The People’s Liberation Army of China continues to train and prepare for war, resolutely defend national sovereignty and territorial integrity and suppress any forms of separatism of “Taiwan independence” and attempts of foreign interference.” – spokesman for the Ministry of Defense of China claimed.
On August 14, 11 PLA aircraft and 6 ships were dispatched to the island’s air and sea territorial waters. The battle group included two J-11 fighters, two J-16 fighters, two J-10 fighters, four Su-30 fighters, and one KJ-500 radar aircraft. The entire Chinese brigade was met with an air patrol and missile deployment. A week earlier, the Taiwan Ministry of Defense had published a report on the activity of 22 Chinese planes.
On August 15, the Ministry of Defense of Taiwan monitored the activities of 30 aircraft and 5 ships during the PLA exercise due to the visit of the American delegation to the island.
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On August 15, the Eastern Command of the PLA Air Force deployed the Kunjing-500 AWACS aircraft and Jian-11 fighters on combat patrol in the area of Taiwan’s Penghu Island.
According to the residents of Taiwan themselves, they are used to the fact that the PRC can invade the island by force at any time, so they do not pay much attention to the visits of American politicians and believe that the media pay too much attention to these visits instead of writing about the really important issues.
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