China has concluded three days of combat drills in the airspace and waters around Taiwan.
The exercises were a response to a summit that Taiwan’s president and senior U.S. lawmakers held last week in California, seen as a clear message to China.
U.S. lawmakers on both sides of the aisle vowed to build diplomatic and economic ties with Taiwan. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy signaled support for Taiwan’s democracy.
"Today was a bipartisan meeting with Republicans and Democrats united together in a place that symbolizes the freedom and the commitment and the bond that’s only become stronger with the president with us today,” McCarthy said during the summit.
US, Taiwan hold a high-level meeting in a message to China
Lawmakers hope the high-level meeting will boost diplomatic and trade relations with Taiwan.
In August of 2022, China held similar drills after then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi visited Taiwan. She was the most senior U.S. official to visit the self-governing island in more than 25 years. At the time, the Biden administration signaled that it did not intend to make significant changes to its policy on Taiwan.
Pelosi Says U.S. Will Not Abandon Taiwan As China Protests
"America's determination to preserve democracy, here in Taiwan and around the world, remains ironclad," said U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
China has maintained that it still has sovereign control over Taiwan since the civil war in 1949, when Taiwan claimed independence.
China says foreign officials who meet with Taiwan are encouraging a formal bid for independence, which Chinese Communist Party officials say would be cause for war.
