Taiwan is high on the summer travel list for U.S. members of Congress on their August recess this year, as U.S. lawmakers make a point of asserting American support for the self-governed island despite objections from China. The payoff photos from this week’s five-member congressional visit, like that of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi less than two weeks earlier, are meant as a pointed message to China: newly arrived lawmakers disembarking on the tarmac of Taipei’s international airport, greeted by beaming Taiwanese officials glad for the American support. Sen. Ed Markey, a Massachusetts Democrat, on Monday was wrapping up the second U.S. congressional delegation there this month. Pelosi had been the most senior U.S. official in a quarter-century to visit Taiwan, underscoring the longstanding U.S. policy of solidarity with the island’s democratically elected leaders. China claims Taiwan as part of its territory. It views any visit by U.S. officials as a recognition of the island’s sovereignty. So far, China’s response to Markey’s delegation has been more restrained than that of two weeks ago, when Beijing launched days of intensive military maneuvers around Taiwan and froze some ties with the U.S. government over Pelosi’s visit. A look at some key questions about U.S. lawmakers’ Taiwan trips, and why they matter. WHY DID MORE LAWMAKERS TRAVEL TO TAIWAN THIS MONTH? Partly, to show they can, and will. Pelosi framed her trip to Taiwan as part of an obligation by American leaders to stand up for the world’s democratic movements against authoritarian governments. The mission itself is in many ways the message for lawmakers — demonstrating vividly that they will maintain U.S. ties with Taiwan despite threats from China, which under President Xi Jinping is growing ever more confrontational in making broad territorial claims in the region. Taiwan and mainland China split during a civil war in 1949. But China claims the island as its own territory and has not ruled out using military force to take it. The U.S. recognizes Beijing as the government of China but maintains informal diplomatic, defense and trade ties with democratic Taiwan. Markey, a congressional veteran of more than 40 years, was one of the signers of the 1979 Taiwan Relations Act. The law pledged ongoing U.S. relations with the Taiwanese. Meeting with President Tsai Ing-wen on Sunday, Markey pledged “support for peace and stability in Taiwan as they face growing authoritarian pressure from Beijing,” according to a statement from his office. But Markey also expressed the U.S. desire to avoid unnecessary conflict in the region, and praised Taiwan for its restraint as tensions with China rose over Pelosi’s trip. HOW DID CHINA REACT? China responded to news of Markey’s five-member U.S. congressional delegation by announcing new drills in the seas and skies surrounding Taiwan. It was not clear if the new drills had already started. Officials gave no details about where and when they would be conducted. When Pelosi visited, Beijing fired missiles over the island and into the Taiwan Strait and sent warplanes and navy ships across the waterway’s midline, long a buffer between the sides. “China will take resolute and strong measures to defend national sovereignty and territorial integrity,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin said at a daily briefing Monday. “A handful of U.S. politicians, in collusion with the separatist forces of Taiwan independence, […]

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