As tensions between the two countries continued to rise on Tuesday, China warned that the United States would “pay the price” if House Speaker Nancy Pelosi visited Taiwan during her Asia trip.
It is safe to say that the area is on edge due to Beijing’s increasingly bellicose warnings in response to the possibility of Pelosi making what would be the most high-profile visit by an elected US official in 25 years to Taipei.
US and Taiwanese media have reported that Pelosi, 82, will visit Taiwan as part of her ongoing Asia tour, but she has not yet confirmed this.
#WATCH | Taiwan: US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi meets President of Taiwan Tsai Ing-wen in Taipei pic.twitter.com/i7zVHUsOYx
— ANI (@ANI) August 3, 2022
China warns the US on Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan
During a routine news briefing in Beijing, Hua Chunying, a spokesperson for China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, stated that the United States will “take the burden and pay the price” for harming China’s sovereign security interests. While not naming Pelosi by name, on Tuesday, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said, “the US violation of faith on the Taiwan issue is disgraceful” on the website of his ministry. Beijing claims self-governing, democratic Taiwan as part of its territory and has threatened to take it over one day. It opposes countries having diplomatic exchanges with Taiwan and works to isolate the island wherever possible internationally.
Chinese President Xi Jinping warned US President Joe Biden last week not to “play with fire” regarding Taiwan in a phone chat.
While the Biden administration is believed to be against Pelosi making a stop in Taiwan, National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said she was free to go wherever she wished.
The proposed visit is in line with US policy for a long time, so there is “no need for Beijing to make a potential visit into some type of crisis,” he told reporters. Newt Gingrich, the last Speaker of the House, was the last person to travel to Taiwan.
According to Kirby’s sources, China is planning military provocations. It “raises the stakes of a miscalculation,” he said, because Pelosi was on a military plane. However, Washington did not fear an attack on Pelosi. However, Kirby reaffirmed that the United States’ stance toward Taiwan has not altered.
This entails backing Taiwan’s self-governing government but diplomatically favouring Beijing over Taipei and opposing both Taiwan’s official proclamation of independence and China’s use of force to seize control of the island.
Incredible footage of people cheering the arrival of @SpeakerPelosi’s jet in Taiwan earlier this evening. pic.twitter.com/oMrPm0ouZq
— ICE 🧊 (@goLoko77) August 3, 2022
Meanwhile, Moscow declared its “full solidarity with China,” branding the possibility of a Pelosi visit as “pure provocation.”
China has been accused of providing diplomatic cover for the Kremlin by criticising Western sanctions and weaponry deliveries to Kyiv, despite its refusal to criticise Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
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