French senators arrive in Taiwan amid tensions with China

A group of French senators are in Taiwan for a five-day visit following a large Chinese show of force with fighters jets and escalating diplomatic pressure against the island

TAIPEI, Taiwan -- A group of French senators arrived in Taiwan for a five-day visit Wednesday following a large Chinese show of force with fighters jets amid the highest tensions in decades between China and Taiwan.

The group, led by senator Alain Richard, will meet with President Tsai Ing-wen, Taiwanese economic and health officials and the Mainland Affairs Council. Richard, a former French defense minister, previously visited Taiwan in 2015 and 2018, according to Taiwan's semi-official Central News Agency, and heads the Taiwan Friendship group in the French senate.

China's ambassador to France Lu Shaye sent a warning letter in February calling on Richard to cancel the Taiwan visit, according to local media reports.

The visit will likely provoke a rebuke from China, which claims self-ruled Taiwan as its own territory and therefore opposes any international engagement with the island such as visits by foreign government officials. It also has aggressively poached Taiwan’s remaining diplomatic allies.