TAIPEI, Taiwan—A group of French senators arrived in Taiwan for a five-day visit on Wednesday following a large Chinese show of force with fighter jets near the self-ruled island, and Beijing warned the trip will hurt its ties with France. The group, led by senator Alain Richard, will meet with President Tsai Ing-wen, Taiwanese economic and health officials, and the Mainland Affairs Council. Richard, a former French defense minister, previously visited Taiwan in 2015 and 2018, according to Taiwan’s semi-official Central News Agency, and heads the Taiwan Friendship Group in the French Senate. China tried to discourage the visit, with its embassy in France saying ahead of the trip that it will damage China’s core interests and undermine Chinese-French relations. The visit is part of normal and regular parliamentary exchanges between France and Taiwan, which were not politicized in the past, said Mathieu Duchatel, director of the Asia Program at …
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