News of Pelosi’s intention to visit Taiwan has angered China, which considers it its territory and has declared that it will not even hesitate to seize it by force in order to bring it under its full control.
The White House is tight-lipped about a possible visit by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to Taiwan, and would not confirm – but neither deny – Taiwanese media reports that it has “locked in” her arrival in Taipei tomorrow. Tuesday.
Secretary of State Anthony Blinken said today that he did not know the intentions of Pelosi — who is on a tour of Asia — stressing that any initiative by her to visit Taiwan was entirely her “personal decision.”
The head of American diplomacy emphasized, however, that Washington expects Beijing to react responsibly and not engage in actions that will escalate the tension if Nancy Pelosi eventually visits Taiwan.
“Ignorance” about whether the speaker of the House of Representatives will visit Taiwan, said White House spokesman for national security John Kirby. “We will not take the bait, nor will we be intimidated,” he asserted and added that nothing has changed in American policy on Taiwan.
News of Pelosi’s intention to visit the island has angered China, which considers it its territory and has declared that it will not even hesitate to seize it by force in order to bring it under its full control. Taiwan’s roughly 23 million residents have lived for years with the possibility of a Chinese invasion, but that threat has increased under Xi Jinping’s presidency.
The US maintains a policy of “strategic ambiguity” on whether it would intervene militarily in the event of a Chinese invasion. Although diplomatically they do not recognize Taiwan’s independence, they support Taiwan’s democratically elected government and oppose any violent regime change of the self-governing island.
The US and Chinese presidents had a high-profile phone call last week dominated by disagreements over Taiwan, with Xi Jinping warning Joe Biden not to “play with fire”.
The scenarios for a possible visit by Pelosi to Taipei have coincided with an increase in Chinese military activity in the region, underscoring how tense the situation is.
According to a nypost report a day before the expected visit to Taiwan by US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, China’s military released ominous video of missile strikes, troops hastily grabbing their weapons and fighter jets taking off from airports. .
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X-Ac1huAqmA
Taiwanese media reported that Pelosi would arrive on Tuesday night local time after visiting Malaysia on the second leg of her ongoing Asia trip, making the speaker the highest-ranking US elected official to visit the country since Newt Gingrich in 1997.
The island nation’s three largest newspapers – United Daily News, Liberty Times and China Times – all reported that the Democratic congressional delegation would spend Tuesday night in Taipei.
Pelosi’s office previously confirmed she would visit Singapore, Malaysia, South Korea and Japan, but did not say whether Taiwan was on the itinerary. She is scheduled to be in Malaysia on Tuesday and South Korea on Thursday, but her schedule for Wednesday remains unclear.
Reports that Pelosi will visit Taiwan have angered the Chinese, who said Monday that their military would not “sit idly” and warned that her trip would have “serious consequences.”
China military posts missile strike video as Taiwan preps for Pelosi arrival https://t.co/GhKXD0rMvl pic.twitter.com/ERQiMgnVxk
— New York Post (@nypost) August 1, 2022
“If Pelosi insists on visiting Taiwan, China will take decisive and strong measures to defend its sovereignty and territorial integrity,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian told reporters in Beijing.
“Those who play with fire will perish by it. We would like to once again warn the US that we are fully prepared for any eventuality and the People’s Liberation Army will never stand idly by,” Zhao Lijian said.
In a show of force, the Eastern Front Command of the People’s Liberation Army released videos on state media websites on Monday showing the military conducting drills with aircraft carriers, helicopters and planes flying in formation, frogmen rising from the ocean, heavily armed soldiers running through wooded areas and paratrooper platoons descending from a blue sky.
“We are fully prepared for any eventuality. Fight on command, bury each invader and proceed to joint and successful operations! We are soldiers of the People’s Liberation Army, we swear to defend the motherland to the death,” the soldiers say in the video.
APE-MBE, New York Post
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