Comment China’s foreign ministry on Tuesday criticized reports that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) is planning a trip to Taiwan in August, saying it strongly opposes a visit. Pelosi had planned to lead a congressional delegation to Taiwan, the democratic island claimed by Beijing, in April, but delayed her trip to Asia after contracting the coronavirus. A visit this summer would make Pelosi one of the highest-ranking U.S. politicians to travel to Taiwan in recent years and the first House speaker to go there since Rep. Newt Gingrich (R-Ga.) in 1997. Pelosi’s office told The Washington Post on Tuesday: “We do not confirm or deny international travel in advance due to longstanding security protocols.” The Financial Times first reported news of Pelosi’s trip, saying she will also visit Singapore, Japan, Indonesia and Malaysia. “If the United States insists on going ahead, China should take firm and strong measures to defend national sovereignty and territorial integrity,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said. Such a trip would cause “serious damage to China’s sovereignty and territorial integrity,” he added, and “seriously affect the political foundations of China-US relations.” Wary of China’s threat, the Taiwanese join Ukraine’s fight against Russia Taiwan’s foreign ministry spokeswoman Joanne Ou said her agency had not received information about reports of Pelosi’s visit. Beijing claims Taiwan as its own and is committed to achieving what it calls “reunification,” threatening to use force if necessary to take control of the self-ruled island. The United States has for decades walked a fine line, not taking a stand on Taiwan’s sovereignty status but repeatedly saying it opposes any unilateral changes to the status quo. Shortly after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, President Biden sent an unofficial delegation of former US defense and national security officials to Taiwan in March in an effort to show that the United States’ commitment to Taiwan remained “unwavering.” Europe’s war and invasion by a superpower neighbor has particular resonance in Asia, with Taiwan taking steps to boost its military preparedness against any attack by China as Beijing has sharpened its rhetoric towards Taipei in recent months. . FBI director suggests China prepare for sanctions if it invades Taiwan During his first trip to Asia as president in May, Biden signaled a more confrontational approach to China and issued a sharp warning against any possible attack on Taiwan. Asked if the United States would defend Taiwan militarily if it was attacked by Beijing, Biden said: “Yes, that’s the commitment we made.” His comment represented a departure from the usual US policy of remaining vague on the issue and was quickly retracted by aides and criticized by Beijing at the time. The United States has long maintained a policy of strategic ambiguity about the extent of American aid, deliberately making it unclear what it would do if it came to Taiwan’s defense. Zhao told reporters at a news conference on Tuesday that Congress, as part of the US government, should adhere to the one-China policy, referring to the United States’ longstanding position that it recognizes Beijing’s claim that there is only one China. with the understanding that Taiwan’s fate will not be decided by force. Pelosi has been an outspoken critic of China and actually met in January with Taiwan’s Vice President William Lai Tsing-te while in the United States. He thanked her for standing up for human rights and called her a “true friend” of Taiwan. Taiwan has been under military threat from Beijing since Communist forces defeated the Nationalists in the Chinese Civil War in 1949, prompting the Nationalists to flee to Taiwan and set up a rival government. In recent years, Beijing and Washington have had an increasingly rocky relationship over trade, human rights abuses in Xinjiang, China’s claims in the South China Sea and Hong Kong’s autonomy, among other issues. China’s Defense Minister, General Wei Fenghe, called Washington a “bully” in June and vowed to “fight to the end” to seize Taiwan if a conflict is forced, escalating a war of words with the United States. Lily Kuo, Amy B Wang and Bryan Pietsch contributed to this report.
