Taipei: US House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi left Taiwan on Wednesday after pledging solidarity and praising its democracy, leaving a trail of Chinese anger over her brief visit to the self-governing island, which Beijing claims as its own. China demonstrated its outrage at the highest-level US visit to the island in 25 years, detonating military activity in the surrounding waters, summoning the US ambassador to Beijing and halting several agricultural imports from Taiwan.
According to Taiwan’s defense ministry, some of China’s planned military exercises were to take place within 12 nautical miles of Taiwan’s sea and airspace, an unprecedented move a senior defense official told reporters “at sea and air”. Taiwan blockade”.
Pelosi arrived with her unannounced congressional delegation, but watched closely late Tuesday, defying repeated warnings from China, in what she said reflects Taiwan’s unwavering American commitment to democracy.
Pelosi told Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen, “Our delegation came to Taiwan to make it very clear that we will not abandon Taiwan,” Beijing is suspected of pushing for formal independence – a red flag for China. Line.
It was also my high honor to receive from the President @iingwen Taiwan’s Order of Propious Clouds with Special Grand Cordon: A Symbol of Our Treasured Friendship. Make no mistake: America is unwavering in our commitment to the people of Taiwan—now and for decades to come. pic.twitter.com/yFcVQil4TT— Nancy Pelosi (@SpeakerPelosi) 3 August 2022
During his nearly 19-hour visit, he said, “Now, more than ever, America’s solidarity with Taiwan is important, and that’s the message we’re bringing here today.”
A longtime critic of China, particularly on human rights, Pelosi has accused a former Tiananmen activist, a Hong Kong bookseller who was detained by China, and a Taiwanese activist recently released by China.
Mainland fury at Beijing’s defiance by the 82-year-old Democrat was evident throughout Chinese social media with a blogger railing: “This old she-devil, she really dares to come!”
Newt Gingrich was the last US House Speaker to visit Taiwan in 1997. But Pelosi’s visit follows a sharply deteriorating Sino-US relationship, and China has emerged as a far more powerful economic, military and geopolitical force over the past quarter century. ,
China considers Taiwan to be part of its territory and has never given up using force to bring it under its control. The United States warned China against using the visit as an excuse for military action against Taiwan.
In retaliation, China’s customs department announced the suspension of imports of citrus fruits, cold white striped hairtail and frozen horse mackerel from Taiwan, while its commerce ministry banned the export of natural sand to Taiwan.
While there was no sign of protests against US targets or consumer goods, there was a significant police presence outside the US consulate in Shanghai and what appeared to be more security than usual outside the embassy in Beijing.
China military exercise amid Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan
Soon after Pelosi’s arrival, China’s military announced joint air and sea exercises near Taiwan and began testing conventional missiles at sea in the east of the island, Chinese state news agency Xinhua reported in live-fire exercises around Taiwan. and other exercises described. Thursday to Sunday.
China’s foreign ministry said Pelosi’s visit seriously damages peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait, “has serious implications for the political foundations of Sino-US relations, and seriously infringes on China’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.” does.”
Statement by the Chinese Foreign Ministry on Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan https://t.co/s7cH9TuKHj— Hua Chunying (@SpokespersonCHN) 2 August 2022
Before Pelosi’s arrival, Chinese warplanes stormed the line dividing the Taiwan Strait. The Chinese military said it was on high alert and would launch a “targeted military operation” in response to Pelosi’s visit.
White House national security spokesman John Kirby said after Pelosi’s arrival in Taiwan that the United States is “not intimidated” by China’s threats or war rhetoric and that there is no reason his visit should trigger a crisis or conflict. Go.
Kirby said China could do “economic coercion” towards Taiwan, adding that the impact on US-China relations would depend on Beijing’s actions in the coming days and weeks.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken discussed the prospects of Pelosi’s visit with his counterpart Wang Yi during the G20 meeting in Bali last month, saying any such visit would be entirely independent of Pelosi’s decision and the US government, a senior US official said on Wednesday.
‘China’s ambition’
The United States has no official diplomatic relations with Taiwan, but is obliged by American law to provide it with the means to defend itself. China sees the visit by US officials to Taiwan as sending an encouraging signal to the pro-independence camp on the island. Taiwan has rejected China’s claims of sovereignty, saying that only the Taiwanese people can decide the future of the island.
Taiwan’s army has increased its alert level. Its defense ministry said 21 Chinese aircraft entered its air defense detection area on Tuesday, and that China was attempting to threaten major ports and cities with exercises in surrounding waters.
“The so-called drill areas are falling within the busiest international channels in the Indo-Pacific region,” a senior official familiar with Taiwan’s security plan told Reuters on Wednesday.
“We can see China’s ambition: to make the Taiwan Strait non-international waters, as well as to make the entire area of the first island chain in the western Pacific its sphere of influence,” the person said.
China’s foreign ministry said it did not see its military exercises around Taiwan due to freedom of navigation issues.