Hours after China warned its military will not ‘sit idly’ if U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi visits Taiwan, reports say she is going ahead with her visit to the island country off the south-eastern coast of China.
According to reports, Nancy Pelosi would continue with her visit to Taiwan, despite warnings from the Biden administration, who are worried about the rising escalation with China that had already warned against Pelosi’s proposed visit to the island nation. Taiwanese and US officials have stated that Pelosi will visit Taiwan as a part of her Asia tour, and will stay in Taiwan overnight, though it is not clear when she would land in Taipei.
However, her visit has not been taken kindly by the Chinese state media, which has served to heighten the tensions between the two nuclear-armed nations over Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan, an independent country that Beijing claims sovereignty over. Hu Xijin, a prominent Chinese commentator for state-run Global Times, warned of “military friction” over Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan.
Responding to the reports that Nancy Pelosi will go ahead with her visit to Taiwan, Xijin tweeted, “Let her go to Taiwan. But pray before departure: wish herself a safe journey and wish herself not be defined by history as a sinner who starts a spiral of escalation process expanding military frictions to a large-scale war in the Taiwan Strait.”
If Pelosi visits Taiwan as in her tour of Asia, it would be the first visit of a US House speaker in a quarter of a century. China, which claims the island as its own province, has made it clear it would see such a move as an unacceptable provocation.
Earlier today, China ratcheted up its warning, saying that its military would “not sit idly by” if the visit happened.
Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian said that because of Pelosi’s status as the “No. 3 official of the U.S. government”, a visit to Taiwan, which China claims as its own, would “lead to egregious political impact”.
Lijian added that it would be “a gross interference in China’s internal affairs” if Pelosi visits Taiwan, and warned that it would lead to “very serious developments and consequences.”We would like to tell the United States once again that China is standing by, the Chinese People’s Liberation Army will never sit idly by, and China will take resolute responses and strong countermeasures to defend its sovereignty and territorial integrity,” Zhao said in a regular daily briefing.
Taiwan missing from Nancy Pelosi’s itinerary after Chinese commentator urged govt to shoot down her plane
Earlier yesterday, a high-octane drama ensued on Twitter over the upcoming visit of the Speaker of the United States House of Representatives, Nancy Pelosi to Asia. It all started after a report by CNN about Pelosi’s visit to Asia, where she was scheduled to make stops at various US allies in the region, including Japan, South Korea, Malaysia and Singapore. However, there were talks of her possible visit to Taiwan as well, but China had issued a strong warning against it.
Quoting CNN’s tweet about Pelosi’s visit, Chinese Propagandist Commentator with the state media, Global Times, Hu Xijin said, “If US fighter jets escort Pelosi’s plane into Taiwan, it is an invasion. The PLA has the right to forcibly dispel Pelosi’s plane and the US fighter jets, including firing warning shots and making the tactical movement of obstruction. If ineffective, then shoot them down,” on Twitter. The tweet was later deleted by Twitter, stating it was against its Terms of Services.
Taiwan is among the major flashpoints between the US and China. Following the threat issued by the Chinese President Xi Jinping over the call to President Biden, the National Security Officials had reportedly worked to convince Pelosi against her trip to Taiwan. However, latest reports say Pelosi might visit Taiwan, stoking further tensions between Beijing and Washington.
