Three US senators arrive in Taiwan, to meet president

Three United States senators arrived in Taiwan on Sunday on a US Air Force freighter and will meet President Tsai Ing-wen to discuss security and other issues, a trip that will likely irritate China.

The US, 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.

Tammy Duckworth and Dan Sullivan of the Senate Armed Services Committee, and Christopher Coons of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, arrived at Taipei's downtown Songshan airport on a US Air Force C-17 Globemaster III.

They were met by the de facto US ambassador in Taiwan, Brent Christensen, and Taiwan Foreign Minister Joseph Wu, in live images carried on Taiwanese television stations.

Tsai was scheduled to meet them at the airport.

It was not immediately clear why...