Three US senators to visit Taiwan, trip likely to irritate China

In this photo released by the Taiwan Centers for Disease Control, a worker unloads vaccines from a plane from Japan at the international Airport in Taoyuan, Taiwan. The flight carrying 1.24 million doses of AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine from Japan touched down in Taiwan on Friday to help the vaccine-starved island fight its largest outbreak since the pandemic began. - AP

TAIPEI, June 5 (Reuters): Three US senators will visit Taiwan next week and will meet senior leaders to discuss security and other issues, the de facto U.S. embassy in Taipei said on Saturday, a trip that will likely irritate China.

The United States, like most countries, has no formal diplomatic ties with the island that is claimed by China, but is its most important international backer and supplier of arms.