United States House Speaker Nancy Pelosi landed in Taiwan late Tuesday evening and she is expected to meet members of Taiwan’s legislature and President Tsai Ing-wen on August 3.
The highly-anticipated visit came despite stark warnings from China and concerns that it could trigger a crisis in the Taiwan Strait and worsen already tense U.S.-China relations. The trip comes despite warnings from the Biden administration against a stop in Taiwan.
Pelosi’s visit makes her the first highest-ranking elected American official to visit Taiwan in 25 years.
The visit was not announced in advance, and it comes as part of Pelosi’s congressional tour of Asia, including Singapore, Malaysia, Japan and South Korea.
“Our congressional delegation’s visit to Taiwan honors America’s unwavering commitment to supporting Taiwan’s vibrant democracy,” Pelosi said in a statement shortly after landing. “America’s solidarity with the 23 million people of Taiwan is more important today than ever, as the world faces a choice between autocracy and democracy.”
China calls Pelosi visit a ‘serious violation’
Beijing condemned the visit and reacted furiously as it claims sovereignty over the self-governing island Taiwan, home to 23 million people.
China’s foreign ministry has issued a statement calling Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan “a serious violation of the one-China principle”.
“It has a severe impact on the political foundation of China-U.S. relations, and seriously infringes upon China’s sovereignty and territorial integrity,” according to the statement. “It gravely undermines peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait, and sends a seriously wrong signal to the separatist forces for ‘Taiwan independence’.”
China to launch ‘targeted military operations’
China said it will launch “targeted military operations” in the South China Sea from Tuesday to Saturday in response to Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan.
The exercises will include joint air and sea drills in the north, southwest and southeast of Taiwan, long-range live firing in the Taiwan Strait, and missile test launches in the sea east of Taiwan, the Eastern Theatre Command said.
China’s Foreign Ministry repeated its threat of “serious consequences,” and spokesperson Zhao Lijian said China’s military would “never sit idly by” in response to such “a gross interference in China’s internal affairs.”