A steady stream of foreign lawmakers is visiting Taiwan in record numbers, a positive sign for Taiwan's trade ties and international standing at a moment when China is trying to shut it out.

• Recent trips have set "first ever" and "largest ever" records, even as Beijing keeps pressuring other countries to stay away.
• The main draw is business: Taiwan's chip industry and smaller manufacturers sit at the center of global supply chains, and visiting lawmakers want deeper trade and tech deals for their own countries.
• The second reason is symbolic — showing up in Taipei signals a country is lining up with the U.S. and other democracies rather than with China, Russia, Iran, or North Korea.
• China has sent private warnings to foreign officials for decades to block these visits, but most governments now see that backing off only hands Beijing leverage for nothing in return.
• Taiwan's foreign ministry says the goal is to turn the visits into concrete cooperation, with pressure at home to make the semiconductor partnerships permanent rather than one-off trips.

Outlook: Expect more delegations and a push in Taipei to convert the visits into formal trade and chip agreements.