China has issued stern private warnings to the government of Joe Biden about a possible trip to Taiwan, an island that Beijing considers a rebellious province, by the Speaker of the House of Representatives of the United States, Democrat Nancy Pelosi, the Japanese-British newspaper Financial Times reported this week. Saturday (23).
The report cites six people familiar with the case, for whom the warnings were significantly stronger than previous threats, in which the Chinese expressed dissatisfaction over US actions towards Taiwan. The private alert, according to the Financial Times, suggested a military response.
Beijing has been stepping up its military activities around Taiwan to pressure the island’s elected government to accept Chinese sovereignty. Taipei, for its part, says that only its 23 million people can decide the territory’s future and that, although it wants peace, it will defend itself from attacks.
On the 18th, the Japanese-British newspaper had already revealed that Pelosi plans to travel to Taiwan in August. A day later, the Chinese foreign ministry reacted, saying that a visit by the Democrat would seriously harm China’s sovereignty and territorial integrity and that the US would suffer the consequences of such an act.
“If the Americans choose to do so, China will take assertive measures to defend its sovereignty,” said Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian. “Congress is part of the US government and must adhere to the US one-China policy. If Pelosi visits Taiwan, it would seriously violate that principle and send the wrong signal to separatist forces.”
On Wednesday, US President Joe Biden said he wants to speak with Chinese leader Xi Jinping by the end of the month, signaling he has doubts about the House Speaker’s trip to Taiwan. “The military thinks it’s not a good idea right now, but I don’t know what the status of it is,” Biden said.
If it comes to fruition, the visit would be the first in 25 years by an American official of this level to Taipei — Republican Newt Gingrich traveled there in 1997, the year he headed the House now led by the Democrat. Pelosi had already considered taking a similar trip in April this year, but had to cancel the plans after being diagnosed with Covid.
Although it has maintained diplomatic relations with China since 1979, which implies recognizing the demand for sovereignty over Taiwan, the US maintains a military protection pact for the island. The historical imbroglio has its origins in the fact that it was to Taiwan that those defeated by the Communist Revolution of 1949 fled.
