“Due to external events, the delegation’s trip to Japan has been cancelled,” the embassy said in a press release.

The delegation was scheduled to hold a press conference on Sunday in Tokyo.

They were planning to visit Japan and South Korea after meeting with Chinese president Xi Jinping yesterday.

An embassy spokesman told AFP that the South Korea visit had also been cancelled, but declined to elaborate on the details of the “external events.”

The cancellation comes after the US said 11 Americans were dead and others are likely being held hostage by Hamas after its surprise attack on Israel.

Schumer is the latest high-level US official to visit China as Washington seeks to ease tensions with Beijing, which have flared in recent years over everything from trade to human rights.

Schumer said last week on X, formerly known as Twitter, that their trip “will focus on the issues of economic competition and security, American national security, and global leadership in advanced technology.”