— Tension escalates hours ahead of Pelosi’s potential Taiwan visit
— China denounces visit, terms it ‘provocative’
TAIPEI: United States House Speaker Nancy Pelosi landed in Taiwan on Tuesday evening, defying a string of increasingly stark warnings and threats from China that have sent tensions between the world’s two superpowers soaring.
Pelosi, second in line to the presidency, is the highest-profile elected US official to visit Taiwan in 25 years and Beijing has made clear that it regards her presence as a major provocation, setting the region on edge.
Live broadcasts showed the 82-year-old lawmaker, who flew on a US military aircraft, being greeted at Taipei’s Songshan Airport by foreign minister Joseph Wu.
“Our delegation’s visit to Taiwan honours America’s unwavering commitment to supporting Taiwan’s vibrant Democracy,” Pelosi’s official Twitter account tweeted moments after she arrived. She added her visit “in no way contradicts” US policy towards Taiwan and Beijing.
China condemns Pelosi’s visitÂ
The Chinese Foreign Ministry on Tuesday strongly condemned Nancy Pelosi’s visit to China’s Taiwan region in disregard of stern warnings from the Chinese side.
In a statement, the ministry said the visit sent “wrong signals” to separatist forces seeking “Taiwan independence.”
The ministry added that it has lodged solemn representations and protests to the U.S. side.
“This is a serious violation of the one-China principle and the provisions of the three China-U.S. joint communiqués. It has a severe impact on the political foundation of China-U.S. relations, and seriously infringes upon China’s sovereignty and territorial integrity. It gravely undermines peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait, and sends a seriously wrong signal to the separatist forces for “Taiwan independence.” China firmly opposes and sternly condemns this, and has made serious démarche and strong protest to the United States,” the statement reads.
Tensions escalated ahead of Pelosi’s visit to Taipei. One of the sources who reviewed the itinerary said it listed a Taiwan visit as “tentative.” If she visits, the trip would make her the most senior U.S. lawmaker to visit the island since 1997. Beijing says it’s fully prepared to respond with “strong measures” if Pelosi does visit.
On the evening of July 28, Chinese President Xi Jinping spoke with his U.S. counterpart Joe Biden on the phone at the request of the latter. President Xi made clear the importance of the three China-U.S. joint communiqués signed between 1972 and 1982, and said that the one-China principle serves as the political foundation for bilateral relations.
China firmly opposes separatist moves toward “Taiwan independence” and interference by external forces, and never allows any room for “Taiwan independence” forces in whatever form, Xi said. In response, President Biden reiterated that the U.S.’ one-China policy has not changed and will not change, and that the U.S. does not support “Taiwan independence.”
The intensity of the situation across the Taiwan Straits has drastically escalated as the military deployment from the Chinese mainland, US and the island of Taiwan continues creeping up, after US and Taiwan-based media disclosed that US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is expected to visit the island on Tuesday night, a serious provocation and violation to China’s sovereignty and territorial integrity which would be met with severe countermeasures from the Chinese military.
According to the website of China’s Maritime Safety Administration, the Shandong Maritime Safety Administration issued a navigation warning, saying that the Weifang port in Bohai Sea will conduct live fire from 15:00 to 24:00 on August 3. The Qinglan Maritime Safety Administration of South China’s Guangdong Province also issued a navigation warning due to conducting military training in parts of the South China Sea from Tuesday to Saturday.
Citing “officials”, Taiwan-based media on Monday said Pelosi is expected to land in Taipei on Tuesday evening and stay in Taipei overnight at the Grand Hyatt hotel in Xinyi district. CNN also released similar information, saying that “Pelosi is expected to visit Taiwan as part of her tour of Asia.”
The Fujian Provincial Military Command neighboring Taiwan posted videos and pictures on Tuesday about a live-fire exercise, which aims to “test overall combat capability under complex conditions.” It said that the minuteman missile unit, anti-aircraft artillery unit, radar unit and other combat units participated in the exercise, the first time in recent years that a provincial military command has organized a multi-branch and multi-professional militia to conduct live fire
Citing an anonymous source, the Reuters reported on Tuesday that several People’s Liberation Army (PLA) aircrafts flew close to the “median line” of the Taiwan Straits on Tuesday morning, following the Taiwan-based outlets that said two Chinese mainland guided-missile frigates and a survey ship sailed from north to south through Yonaguni Island waters, heading east of Taiwan island.
Meanwhile, Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi said on Tuesday that the one-China principle is the consensus of the international community, the political foundation for China’s ties with other countries, the core of China’s key interests, and a red line and bottom line that cannot be crossed.
He made the remarks during an interview after attending the Shanghai Cooperation Organization Foreign Ministers’ Meeting. Earlier, he visited the Central Asian countries and met with leaders of those countries. Wang said all leaders firmly support the one-China principle and regard the Taiwan region as a part of China.
The leaders also opposed external forces interfering in China’s internal affairs, Wang said, adding that the one-China principle is widely recognized by the international community.
Talking about the Taiwan question, Wang said that some people in the U.S. are constantly challenging China’s sovereignty and deliberately stirring up trouble across the Taiwan Straits. China will never accept such moves, Wang said.
Some U.S. politicians “play with fire” on the Taiwan question and there will never be a good ending for them, Wang warned. The U.S. is behaving like a bully, which makes the international community realize that the U.S. is the biggest peace breaker of the world, he added.
