Foreign
JUST IN: US HOUSE SPEAKER NANCY PELOSI ARRIVES IN TAIWAN DESPITE THREATS OF CHINESE RETALIATION
US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi landed in Taipei on Tuesday, marking a significant show of support for Taiwan despite China’s threats of retaliation over the visit.
Pelosi’s stop in Taipei is the first time that a US House speaker has visited Taiwan in 25 years. Her trip comes at a low point in US-China relations and despite warnings from the Biden administration against a stop in Taiwan.
Pelosi and the congressional delegation that accompanied her said in a statement on Tuesday that the visit “honors America’s unwavering commitment to supporting Taiwan’s vibrant democracy.”
“Our discussions with Taiwan leadership will focus on reaffirming our support for our partner and on promoting our shared interests, including advancing a free and open Indo-Pacific region,” the statement said. “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 responded by announcing military exercises and with bellicose rhetoric warning that the speaker’s visit “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’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement. “China firmly opposes and sternly condemns this, and has made serious démarche and strong protest to the United States.”
China’s military said it was on “high alert” and would conduct exercises around Taiwan in response to Pelosi’s trip, saying in statements it was launching a series “targeted military operations to counteract the situation.”
Taiwan’s Ministry of National Defense said that 21 Chinese warplanes made incursions into its air defense identification zone (ADIZ) on Tuesday. In response, the Taiwanese military issued radio warnings and deployed air defense missile systems to monitor the activities, it added.
China frequently sends warplanes into Taiwan’s self-declared ADIZ. The highest number of incursions ever recorded was on October 4 last year, when 56 military planes flew into the area on the same day. An ADIZ is unilaterally imposed and distinct from sovereign airspace, which is defined under international law as extending 12 nautical miles from a territory’s shoreline.
Taiwan’s foreign ministry welcomed Pelosi on Tuesday evening. “It is believed that the visit of Speaker Pelosi and other heavyweight members of Congress will strengthen the close and friendly relationship between Taiwan and the United States and further deepen cooperation between the two sides in various fields globally,” the ministry said in a statement.
Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je also embraced Pelosi’s visit but cautioned that the self-governing island should avoid being put “between a rock and hard place” in US-China relations.
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“Taiwan should keep its own agency. We are friends with the US and Japan, and we don’t have to be on bad terms with China,” Ko said in a statement. “Taiwan is in between the US and China. We should keep an open communication channel with China and the US to effectively avoid crises.”
Pelosi to meet with Taiwan’s president Wednesday
The House speaker is expected to visit Taiwan’s presidential office and parliament on Wednesday morning (local time), a senior Taiwanese official told CNN. She will first visit the parliament before heading to the presidential office for a meeting with Taiwan’s President Tsai Ing-wen, the official said.
Pelosi is expected to depart Taiwan later on Wednesday, according to a news release issued by the foreign ministry. The official was not authorized to speak about Pelosi’s travel plans that have not been publicized.
Pelosi is traveling with House Foreign Affairs Chairman Gregory Meeks of New York, Veterans’ Affairs Chairman Mark Takano of California and Reps. Suzan DelBene of Washington state, Raja Krishnamoorthi of Illinois and Andy Kim of New Jersey.
The American Institute in Taiwan said Pelosi’s delegation will meet with senior Taiwanese leaders “to discuss US-Taiwan relations, peace and security, economic growth and trade, the Covid-19 pandemic, the climate crisis, human rights, democratic governance, and other significant issues of mutual interest.”
Pelosi wrote an op-ed that published in The Washington Post after she landed Tuesday, arguing that her trip demonstrated the US commitment to Taiwan under threat from China. “In the face of the Chinese Communist Party’s accelerating aggression, our congressional delegation’s visit should be seen as an unequivocal statement that America stands with Taiwan, our democratic partner, as it defends itself and its freedom,” the California Democrat wrote.
Pelosi’s stop in Taiwan was not listed on the itinerary of her congressional visit to Asia, but the stop had been discussed for weeks in the lead up to her trip. The potential stop prompted warnings from China as well as the Biden administration, which has briefed the speaker about the risks of visiting the democratic, self-governing island, which China claims as part of its territory.
Phryde [email protected]
