- Chinese warplanes sound the Taiwan Strait dividing line
- The visit by the speaker of the United States House has infuriated Beijing
- Beijing insists that self-ruled Taiwan is part of China
TAIPEI, Aug 2 (Reuters) – U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi arrived in Taiwan on Tuesday afternoon aboard a U.S. military aircraft, the first such visit in 25 years and that risks pushing relations between Washington and Beijing into a new one. down
Pelosi and her delegation disembarked from a US Air Force transport plane at Songshan Airport in central Taipei and were greeted by Taiwanese Foreign Minister Joseph Wu and Sandra Oudkirk, the top US representative in Taiwan.
“Our congressional delegation’s visit to Taiwan honors America’s unwavering commitment to support Taiwan’s vibrant democracy,” Pelosi said in a statement shortly after landing. “America’s solidarity with Taiwan’s 23 million people is more important today than ever as the world faces a choice between autocracy and democracy.”
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Pelosi was on a tour of Asia that includes announced visits to Singapore, Malaysia, South Korea and Japan. His stop in Taiwan had not been announced, but had been widely expected.
Chinese warplanes rattled the line dividing the Taiwan Strait on Tuesday ahead of her arrival as China’s leadership warned against a visit by Pelosi, who is second in line to the presidency of the United States and a long-time critic of Beijing.
In the latest rhetorical salvo, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said Tuesday that US politicians who “play with fire” on the Taiwan issue “will not end well.”
The United States said on Monday it would not be intimidated by what it called Chinese “sabre-rattling”.
Most of Pelosi’s planned meetings, including with Speaker Tsai Ing-wen, were scheduled for Wednesday, a person familiar with her itinerary said. Four sources said she was scheduled to meet Wednesday afternoon with a group of activists who are outspoken about China’s human rights record.
Pelosi, 82, is a close ally of US President Joe Biden, both members of the Democratic Party, and has been a key figure in guiding his legislative agenda through the US Congress.
Taiwan’s foreign ministry said it had no comment on reports of Pelosi’s travel plans, while her office had also remained silent.
On Tuesday night, Taiwan’s tallest building, Taipei 101, was lit up with messages such as: “Welcome to Taiwan,” “Speaker Pelosi,” “Taiwan (heart) USA.”
With tensions already high, several Chinese warplanes flew close to the median line dividing the Taiwan Strait on Tuesday morning before leaving later in the day, a source told Reuters. Several Chinese warships have also sailed near the unofficial dividing line since Monday and stayed there, the source said.
The Chinese plane repeatedly performed tactical maneuvers of briefly “touching” the median line and circling to the other side of the strait while Taiwanese jets stood by nearby, the person said.
Normally, planes from neither side cross the median line.
Four US warships, including the USS Ronald Reagan aircraft carrier, were stationed in waters east of Taiwan on what the US Navy called routine deployments. The carrier had transited the South China Sea and was now in the Philippine Sea, east of Taiwan and the Philippines and south of Japan, a US Navy official told Reuters.
It was operating with the guided-missile cruiser USS Antietam and the destroyer USS Higgins, with the amphibious assault ship USS Tripoli also in the area.
US House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi waves after attending a meeting with Malaysian Parliament Speaker Azhar Azizan Harun at the Malaysian Houses of Parliament in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, on 2 August 2022. Department of Information Malaysia/Nazri Rapaai/Handout via
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Since last week, China’s People’s Liberation Army has conducted several exercises, including live-fire drills, in the South China Sea, Yellow Sea and Bohai Sea in a show of Chinese military power .
China sees US officials’ visits to Taiwan as sending an encouraging signal to the pro-independence camp on the democratic, self-governing island. Beijing considers Taiwan part of its territory and has never given up using force to bring the island under its control. Taiwan rejects China’s sovereignty claims and says only its people can decide the island’s future.
The United States does not have official diplomatic relations with Taiwan, but is required by US law to provide the island with the means to defend itself.
‘PROVOCATOR OF THE STATE’
Russia, which is locked in a confrontation with the West over its invasion of Ukraine, also weighed in on Pelosi’s expected visit. Maria Zakharova, spokeswoman for the Russian Foreign Ministry, said the visit was a provocative attempt by the United States to pressure China, a country with which Russia has forged a strong partnership in recent years.
“The US is a state provocateur,” Zakharova said. “Russia confirms ‘one China’ principle and opposes island independence in any form”.
Earlier Tuesday, Pelosi visited Malaysia, having kicked off her Asia tour in Singapore on Monday. His office said he would also go to South Korea and Japan, but made no mention of a visit to Taiwan.
Taiwan’s Ministry of Defense said it had full knowledge of military activities near Taiwan and would send forces appropriately in reaction to “enemy threats.”
China’s defense and foreign ministries did not respond to requests for comment.
In the southeastern Chinese city of Xiamen, which faces Taiwan and has a large military presence, residents reported sightings of armored vehicles.
Chinese social media was abuzz with trepidation over the potential conflict and patriotic fervor.
“In the face of the United States’ reckless disregard for China’s repeated and serious representations, any countermeasures taken by the Chinese side will be justified and necessary, which is also the right of any independent and sovereign country,” the Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman said. ‘Foreign Affairs, Hua Chunying, at a daily briefing in Beijing. .
During a phone call last Thursday, Chinese President Xi Jinping warned Biden that Washington should respect the one-China principle and “those who play with fire will die for it.” Biden told Xi that US policy on Taiwan had not changed and that Washington strongly opposes unilateral efforts to change the status quo or undermine peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait.
White House national security spokesman John Kirby said Monday that Beijing’s responses could include launching missiles near Taiwan, large-scale air or naval activity or more “spurious legal claims,” such as the China’s claim that the Taiwan Strait is not an international waterway.
“We’re not going to take the bait or engage in sabre-rattling. At the same time, we’re not going to be intimidated,” Kirby said.
Bonnie Glaser, a Taiwan expert at the US German Marshall Fund, told reporters on a call that the damage to US-China relations caused by Pelosi’s visit would be difficult to repair.
“We all know how bad this relationship has been over the last year. And I just think this visit from Nancy Pelosi is just going to take it to a new low,” Glaser said. “And I think it’s going to be very difficult to recover from that.”
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Reporting by Yimou Lee and Sarah Wu; Additional reporting by Fabian Hamacher in Taipei, Yew Lun Tian in Beijing and Patricia Zengerle in Washington; Written by Tony Munroe and Michael Martina; Editing by Angus MacSwan, Will Dunham and Mark Heinrich
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