China's military said on Tuesday it conducted a combat readiness patrol in the direction of the Taiwan Strait, after its defence ministry condemned a visit to Taiwan by a U.S. Congressional delegation it said had arrived on a military aircraft, Reuters reports.
The patrol was aimed at the "seriously wrong" words and actions of "relevant countries" on the Taiwan issue and the activities of pro-independence forces in Taiwan, a Chinese military spokesperson said in a statement.
Cross-strait tensions have been rising in recent months, with Taiwan complaining for a year or more of repeated missions by China's air force near the self-ruled island that Beijing claims as its own.
Taiwan's defence ministry said six Chinese military aircraft entered its southwestern air defence zone on Tuesday, including four J-16 fighter jets and two surveillance planes.
Several Taiwan media outlets reported on Tuesday that unspecified members from both the U.S. House of Representatives and Senate had arrived in Taipei on a U.S. military plane.
Taiwan's presidential office declined to comment. The American Institute in Taiwan, the de facto U.S. embassy in the absence of formal diplomatic ties, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
China's defence ministry said in a statement that members of the U.S. Congress had arrived in Taiwan by military plane.
