US House Speaker Pelosi lands in Taiwan despite China's threats

Tuesday, August 2nd 2022 - 16:47 UTC

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Pelosi's official itinerary included stops in Singapore, Malaysia, South Korea, and Japan

A United States Air Force aircraft carrying House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and her entourage landed Tuesday evening in Taipei, despite China's threat that it would be regarded as an invasion of an island Beijing still regards as a province gone rogue after the 1949 civil war.

He who plays with fire shall perish by it, Chinese President Xi Jinping had warned his US colleague Joseph Biden in a telephone conversation last week. When news of a possible Taiwan trip first broke, Biden admitted “that the military thinks it’s not a good idea right now.” However, the White House insisted the Speaker made her own decisions.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian warned that the People’s Liberation Army would not “sit idly by” should she go through with the visit.

“It is shameful that the United States breaks faith with its promise on the Taiwan question, which will only lead to the bankruptcy of its national credibility,” Foreign Minister Wang Yi also argued. “Some US politicians only care about their self-interests, blatantly play with fire on the Taiwan question, make themselves enemies of the 1.4 billion Chinese people, and will definitely end up in no good place,” he went on.

“The bullying deeds of Washington have been exposed to the world and made people of all countries see more clearly that the United States is the biggest destroyer of peace today,” Wang added.

Our delegation’s visit to Taiwan honors America’s unwavering commitment to supporting Taiwan’s vibrant Democracy.

Our discussions with Taiwan leadership reaffirm our support for our partner & promote our shared interests, including advancing a free & open Indo-Pacific region.
— Nancy Pelosi (@SpeakerPelosi) August 2, 2022

“The world knows clearly that US provocation has led to escalating tensions across the Taiwan Strait, and the United States should take full responsibility,” Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying also said Tuesday in reply to US Secretary of State Antony Blinken's message that the US Congress was a separate branch of government, and that if Pelosi “does decide to visit [Taiwan] and China tries to create some kind of crisis or otherwise escalate tensions, that would be entirely on Beijing.”

Hua insisted Blinken's remarks were those of a “hegemonic mentality and gangster logic of some people in the United States that 'I can provoke you at will, but you can't oppose it or defend yourself.'”

Hua insisted the US Congress, as a part of the US government, should strictly follow foreign policies recognized by the US government. “The US House speaker is the third highest-ranking official in the US government. It is by no means an unofficial act for the House speaker to visit Taiwan taking a US military aircraft,” Hua said.

The wrong actions of some US politicians in the past should not constitute a precedent, still less can they become an excuse for the US side to repeat its mistakes on the Taiwan question, Hua also pointed out.

Pelosi is the highest-ranking elected official from the US to visit Taiwan since former Speaker Newt Gingrich’s trip back in 1997. Upon landing, Pelosi issued a statement declaring that the Congressional visit “honors America’s unwavering commitment to supporting Taiwan’s vibrant Democracy.”

“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,” Pelosi said on Taiwanese soil.

According to The Wall Street Journal, Pelosi is to meet with Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen and several local lawmakers. “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,” Pelosi said in her statement.

“Our Congressional delegation’s visit to Taiwan honors America’s unwavering commitment to supporting Taiwan’s vibrant Democracy,” Pelosi's statement went on.

Taiwan was not listed on Pelosi's official itinerary, which includes stops in Singapore, Malaysia, South Korea, and Japan.

Beijing said Pelosi's presence on the island “undermines peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait“ and cautioned Washington it was on a ”dangerous path.“

Earlier Tuesday, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said Russia stands ”in absolute solidarity with China,“ arguing that Pelosi's trip was ”purely provocative“ and likely to worsen geopolitical tensions in the region.

Meanwhile, Taiwan's armed forces are on full alert. The order was issued to ”strengthen its combat readiness” from Tuesday morning until Thursday afternoon and make adjustments according to threats from Beijing, Taiwan's official Central News Agency (CNA) reported. Taipei's Taoyuan International Airport also stepped up security on Tuesday after receiving a bomb threat amid reports of an imminent visit by Pelosi, CNA said.