The Speaker of the United States House of Representatives, Nancy Pelosi, left Taiwan on Wednesday, August 3, after an official trip that raised tensions between Washington and Beijing and intensified military activity near the autonomous island. Pelosi, who met with President Tsai Ing-wen and other leaders, praised the territory’s democracy and promised US government solidarity with the island, which Beijing claims as its own.
An official visit of less than 24 hours, which crossed the “red line” of China.
The highest representative of the US House of Representatives, Nancy Pelosi, expressed Washington’s “unwavering” support for Taipei, in a historic meeting with the president of Taiwan, Tsai Ing-wen, who promised not to back down in the face of military threats. from China.
During a press conference on Wednesday, August 3, Pelosi questioned Chinese President Xi Jinping’s motivations for the strong response to his stop on the autonomous island in the middle of his tour of Asia.
“It is very important that the message is clear. The United States is committed to the security of Taiwan (…) It is about our shared values of democracy and freedom and how Taiwan has been an example to the world. If there are insecurities from the president of China related to his own political situation, I don’t know, ”said the Democratic leader who received a civil honor, the Order of Auspicious Clouds, presented by President Tsai.
Pelosi, who also met with senior Taiwanese lawmakers, described the island as “one of the freest societies in the world,” promising her government’s support amid military threats from China.
“Our delegation came to Taiwan to make it unequivocally clear that we will not abandon taiwan”, Pelosi told President Tsai, whom Beijing accuses of promoting the formal independence of the territory, a “red line” for China that considers the island as part of its country.
“Now, more than ever, the solidarity of the United States with Taiwan is crucial and that is the message that we bring here today,” he remarked.
For her part, the island’s president thanked the US diplomatic gesture and assured that “it will not back down” in the face of a “deliberately increased military threat.”
Pelosi arrived with a US congressional delegation in Taipei on Tuesday, an unannounced stop on her tour but closely watched by China, in defiance of repeated warnings from that country.
Beijing does not stop war threats after Pelosi’s departure
The Chinese government has promised “consequences” and said it will start live fire drills near Taiwan on Thursday, August 4.
Some of the military exercises planned by Chinese authorities would take place within Taiwan’s 12-nautical-mile sea and air territory, according to the island’s Defense Ministry.
It is an unprecedented move that a senior defense official described as “equivalent to a sea and air blockade of Taiwan.”
China showed its outrage at the highest-level US visit to the island in 25 years, with an outbreak of military activity in the surrounding waters.
Shortly after Pelosi’s arrival, Xi Jinping’s Army announced air and sea drills and test launches of conventional missiles in the sea to the east of the island. The state news agency Xinhua reported live-fire drills and other exercises in Taiwan that would last until at least next Sunday.
In addition, Beijing summoned the US ambassador to its capital and in retaliation for what it considers to have crossed a “red line”, the Chinese Customs Administration announced the suspension of imports of citrus and other agricultural products from Taiwan. For its part, the Ministry of Commerce prohibited the export of natural sand to Taiwanese territory.
Pelosi is a long-standing critic of China, especially on human rights issues. During her visit she also met with a former Tiananmen activist, a Hong Kong bookseller who had been detained by China and a Taiwanese activist recently released by Beijing.
The Asian giant considers the island part of its territory and has never given up using force to bring it under its control. The Joe Biden administration warned the Chinese government not to use Pelosi’s visit as a pretext for military action against Taiwan.
With Reuters and EFE
Source: France 24
