MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Pelosi's visit: G7 and EU call on China not to use force in the Taiwan dispute

Speaker of the House of Representatives and third in the US line of US presidential succession has been greeted with all honors and spontaneous support in Taiwan

The announced threatening actions by the People's Republic of China, particularly live fire exercises and economic coercion risk unnecessary escalation in the Taiwan Strait,” points out a joint statement released on Wednesday by the foreign ministers of G7 countries and the High Representative of the EU.

Nancy Pelosi, president of the US House of Representatives is currently on a brief and controversial visit to China's “breakaway province” of Taiwan making Beijing furious and promising to respond to the violation of sovereignty. China has announced “necessary and just” drills which are expected to begin this Thursday, together with some Taiwan airspace violations by Chinese aircraft in anticipation.

The joint communiqué states that, “we, the G7 Foreign Ministers of Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom, the United States of America, and the High Representative of the European Union, reaffirm our shared commitment to maintaining the rules-based international order, peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait and beyond.

”We are concerned by recent and announced threatening actions by the People’s Republic of China (PRC), particularly live-fire exercises and economic coercion, which risk unnecessary escalation. There is no justification to use a visit as pretext for aggressive military activity in the Taiwan Strait. It is normal and routine for legislators from our countries to travel internationally. The PRC’s escalatory response risks increasing tensions and destabilizing the region.

“We call on the PRC not to unilaterally change the status quo by force in the region, and to resolve cross-Strait differences by peaceful means. There is no change in the respective one China policies, where applicable, and basic positions on Taiwan of the G7 members.

”We reiterate our shared and steadfast commitment to maintaining peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait and encourage all parties to remain calm, exercise restraint, act with transparency, and maintain open lines of communication to prevent misunderstanding.”