Beijing pressures lawmakers from 6 countries not to attend conference in Taiwan

Chinese diplomats are pressuring lawmakers from at least six countries not to attend a China-focused summit in Taiwan in what they describe as efforts to isolate the self-governed island, participants told The Associated Press. Politicians in Bolivia, Colombia, Slovakia, North Macedonia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and one other Asian country that declined to be named, say they are getting texts, calls and urgent requests for meetings that would conflict with their plans to travel to Taiwan. The summit begins Monday and is being held by the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China, a group of lawmakers from 35 countries concerned about how democracies approach Beijing.