Five U.S. lawmakers make surprise Taiwan trip days after Nancy Pelosi's tense visit

Five members of Congress landed in Taiwan on Sunday as part of an unannounced high-level visit days after House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) angered China with her trip to the island, which the ruling Chinese Communist Party considers to be part of its territory.

Sen. Ed Markey (D-Mass.) led the bipartisan delegation consisting of Reps. John Garamendi (D-Calif.), Alan Lowenthal (D-Calif.), Don Beyer (D-Va.) and Aumua Amata Coleman Radewagen (R-American Samoa).

The Taiwanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs met with the lawmakers and thanked them for their "timely visit & unwavering support," in a Twitter post.

While the Chinese Ministry of Foreign affairs has yet to comment on the most recent delegation's trip, agency spokesperson Wang Wenbin renewed his country's criticism of Pelosi.

"If Pelosi really cares about democracy and human rights, she should visit Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria, and Libya, express repentance to the hundreds of thousands of innocent people who died under the fire of the US military," he told reporters, as translated.

The People's Republic of China, which has blamed the United States for heightening tensions in the region, fired missiles toward Taiwan one day after Pelosi's visit. Taiwan has warned that China is looking to not only take over the island, but a larger amount of territory in the Pacific following the international response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine.