Visit of US Congress members to Taiwan set to draw Chinese scrutiny

Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen (right) meets representatives Mike Gallagher (centre) and Raja Krishnamoorthi (left) (Taiwan Presidential Office via AP/PA)

A group of US Congress members has travelled to Taiwan to hold talks with President Tsai Ing-wen in a show of support that is certain to draw scrutiny from China, which opposes such visits and sees them as a challenge to its claim of sovereignty over the island.

A visit by then-House speaker Nancy Pelosi to Taiwan two years ago resulted in China dispatching warships and military aircraft to all sides of the self-governing island democracy and firing ballistic missiles into the waters nearby.