US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi arrived in Taiwan on Tuesday night, becoming the highest-ranking US official to visit the self-governing island claimed by China for 25 years.
Pelosi’s visit raised tensions between China and the United States. China claims Taiwan as part of its territory to be annexed by force if necessary and views visits by foreign government officials as recognition of the island’s sovereignty.
China has warned of “decisive and strict measures” if Pelosi goes ahead with the trip.
The Biden administration has not specifically called on her to cancel it, while trying to reassure Beijing that it would not signal a change in US policy towards Taiwan.
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said Washington’s betrayal “on the Taiwan issue bankrupts its national credibility.”
Story continues below the ad
“Some American politicians are playing with fire on the Taiwan issue,” Wang said in a statement. “This will definitely not have a good outcome … exposing the bullying face of America once again shows it as the world’s biggest saboteur of peace.”
Read more: Nancy Pelosi kicks off Asia tour as questions swirl over Taiwan visit
Pelosi said in a statement shortly after her arrival that the US delegation’s visit “honors America’s unwavering commitment to supporting Taiwan’s vibrant democracy.”
“Our visit is one of several congressional delegations to Taiwan — and it in no way contradicts longstanding United States policy,” she said.
The plane carrying Pelosi and her delegation left Malaysia earlier Tuesday after a brief stopover that included a working lunch with Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yacob.
Taiwan’s foreign ministry declined to comment on whether Pelosi would visit. The trip is not officially announced in advance.
Barricades were erected outside the Grand Hyatt Hotel in Taipei, where Pelosi is expected to stay amid heightened security. Two buildings in the capital lit up LED displays with words of welcome, including the iconic Taipei 101 building, which read “Welcome to Taiwan, Speaker Pelosi.”
China, which views Taiwan as a renegade province to be annexed by force if necessary, has repeatedly warned of retaliation for Pelosi’s visit, saying its military will “never sit idly by.”
Story continues below the ad
“The US and Taiwan agreed to make the first provocations, and China was only forced to act in self-defense,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying told reporters in Beijing on Tuesday.
6:07 China warns it ‘will not sit idly by’ if Pelosi visits Taiwan, US says ‘will not be intimidated’ China warns it ‘will not sit idly by’ if Pelosi visits Taiwan, US says that “they shall not be dismayed”‘
Hua said China was in constant communication with the US and made clear “how dangerous it would be if the visit really happened”. Any countermeasures China takes will be “justified and necessary” in the face of Washington’s “unscrupulous behavior,” she said.
Shortly before Pelosi arrived, Chinese state media reported that Chinese Su-35 fighter jets were “crossing” the Taiwan Strait, the body of water that separates mainland China and Taiwan. It was not immediately clear where they were headed or what they planned to do.
Trending stories
-
The dark side of winning the lottery: The lucky ticket can cause new problems, say past winners
-
Canadian archivist discovers ‘very thorough’ school records in Rome
Unspecified hackers launched a cyberattack on the website of Taiwan’s presidential office, rendering it temporarily unavailable on Tuesday evening. The president’s office said the website had been restored shortly after the attack, which overwhelmed it with traffic.
Story continues below the ad
“China believes that by launching a pressure campaign against Taiwan, the people of Taiwan will be intimidated. But they are wrong,” Wang Ting-yu, a lawmaker from the Democratic Progressive Party, said on Twitter in response to the attack.
China’s military threats have raised fears of a new crisis in the 100-mile (140-kilometer) wide Taiwan Strait that could shake global markets and supply chains.
On Monday, the White House condemned Beijing’s rhetoric, saying the US had no interest in escalating tensions with China and “will not take the bait or rattle the guns.”
White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby emphasized that the decision on whether to visit Taiwan ultimately rests with Pelosi. He noted that members of Congress have routinely visited the island over the years.
Read more: China conducts ‘live-fire’ military exercises near Taiwan, warns Pelosi not to attend
Kirby said administration officials were concerned that Beijing could use the visit as an excuse to take provocative retaliatory steps, including military action such as launching missiles into or around the Taiwan Strait, or flying into the island’s airspace and conducting large-scale naval operations exercises in the Straits.
“Simply put, there is no reason for Beijing to turn a potential visit, which is in line with long-standing US policy, into some kind of crisis or use it as a pretext to increase aggressive military activity in or around the Taiwan Strait,” Kirby said.
Story continues below the ad
U.S. officials said the U.S. military would increase the movement of forces and assets to the Indo-Pacific region during Pelosi’s visit. The US Navy aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan and its strike group were in the Philippine Sea on Monday, according to officials who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss military operations.
Reagan, the cruiser USS Antietam and the destroyer USS Higgins departed Singapore after a port visit and moved north to their home port in Japan. The carrier has an array of aircraft, including F/A-18 fighter jets and helicopters, on board, as well as sophisticated radar systems and other weapons.
Taiwan and China split in 1949 after the Communists won a civil war on the mainland. The US maintains informal relations and defense ties with Taiwan, although it recognizes Beijing as the government of China.
1:56 Biden’s fifth conversation with China’s Xi Jinping ranged from human rights to Taiwan: The White House Biden’s fifth conversation with China’s Xi Jinping ranged from human rights to Taiwan: The White House
Beijing sees formal U.S. contact with Taiwan as an encouragement to make the island’s decades-old de facto independence permanent, a step U.S. leaders say they do not support. Pelosi, head of one of the three branches of the US government, is the highest-ranking elected US official to visit Taiwan since then-President Newt Gingrich in 1997.
Story continues below the ad
Flight-tracking site Flightradar24 said Pelosi’s plane, a US Air Force Boeing C-40C, was the most watched in the world on Tuesday night with 300,000 viewers. The plane took a circuitous route, flying east over Indonesia rather than directly over the South China Sea.
Pelosi uses her position in the US Congress as the US emissary on the world stage. She has long challenged China on human rights, including in 2009 when she hand-delivered a letter to then-President Hu Jintao calling for the release of political prisoners. She attempted to visit the island democracy of Taiwan earlier this year before testing positive for COVID-19.
Pelosi kicked off her Asian tour in Singapore on Monday as her possible visit to Taiwan sparked concern in the region.
Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong “underscored the importance of stable US-China relations to regional peace and security” during talks with Pelosi, the city-state’s foreign ministry said. This was echoed by Japanese Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi in Tokyo, who said stable ties between the two rival powers “are extremely important to the international community as well.”
The Philippines called on the US and China to be “responsible actors” in the region. “It is important that the US and China ensure continuous communication to avoid any miscalculations and further escalation of tensions,” foreign affairs spokeswoman Teresita Daza said.
China has been steadily increasing diplomatic and military pressure on Taiwan. China severed all contact with Taiwan’s government in 2016 after President Tsai Ing-wen refused to back its claim that the island and mainland together constitute one Chinese nation, with the Communist regime in Beijing as the only legitimate government.
Story continues below the ad
Pelosi will travel to Japan and South Korea later this week.
___
Ng reported from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Associated Press reporters Jim Gomez in Manila, Philippines, and Marie Yamaguchi in Tokyo contributed to this report.
© 2022 The Canadian Press
Add Comment