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Visit of the US delegation to Taiwan.
Here, for example, US Senator Ed Markey shakes hands with Taiwanese Foreign Minister Joseph Wu.
Photo: HANDOUT/AFP
Amid ongoing tensions, China has imposed sanctions on seven Taiwanese politicians and government officials.
As the state news agency Xinhua reported, the politicians and their family members are no longer allowed to travel to mainland China or to the Chinese special administrative regions of Hong Kong and Macau.
They were also forbidden from doing business.
In addition, further punitive measures would be taken.
Those affected include Hsiao Bi-khim, Taiwan's representative in the United States, and Ker Chien-Ming, majority leader of the ruling DPP party in Taiwan's Legislative Council.
Beijing has labeled those sanctioned as "separatists" who are collaborating with outside forces and have deliberately fueled tensions across the Taiwan Strait.
Beijing imposed the sanctions after Taiwan's President Tsai Ing-wen received five US congressmen led by Democratic Sen. Ed Markey on Monday.
The visit came almost two weeks after the heated dispute with Beijing over the visit of US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to Taiwan.
China had already announced further military maneuvers on Monday.
The communist leadership regards democratic Taiwan as part of the People's Republic of China.
It therefore firmly rejects official contacts from other countries to Taiwan and even threatens to conquer it.
Taiwan, on the other hand, sees itself as independent.
til/dpa
