The visit shows the “unconditional support” of the United States for the island, although “it does not contradict” Washington’s policy towards China, explained Pelosi’s cabinet, which belongs to President Joe Biden’s party and is second in line to succession. presidential. The Taiwanese Foreign Ministry also assured that the visit shows Washington’s “solid” support for the island of 23 million inhabitants.
China, which regards Taiwan as a rogue province, said the United States is taking “extremely dangerous” actions and threatened retaliation.
“The Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) is on high alert and will launch a series of targeted military actions to defend national sovereignty and territorial integrity and thwart external interference and separatist attempts at ‘Taiwan independence,'” he said. Defense Ministry spokesman in a statement.
China also indicated that its fighter planes had crossed the Taiwan Strait yesterday, although according to the Taiwanese authorities, these are 21 incursions into the Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ), larger than the airspace of a country.
Military authorities in Washington indicated that several US warships were sailing in the waters of the Taiwan region.
China and Taiwan have been separated in fact since 1949, when Mao Zedong’s communist troops defeated the nationalists, who took refuge on the island. In 1979, the United States recognized the government in Beijing as representing China, although it continued to give military support to Taiwan.
Pelosi, who is on an Asian tour, is the highest-ranking US official to visit Taiwan since her predecessor Newt Gingrich in 1997.
Reaction
The prospect of such a scale heated tensions between the two superpowers.
“The United States will bear the responsibility and pay the price for undermining China’s sovereignty and security,” a spokeswoman for Chinese diplomacy said a few hours earlier.
Russia stated that China has “the right to take the necessary measures to protect its sovereignty” and considered Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan a “provocation”.
China has this year refrained from condemning Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, which is facing stiff resistance backed by Western powers.
The “reunification” of China is a priority goal for Chinese President Xi Jinping, who last week formally told Biden over the phone to avoid “playing with fire.”
To back up its message, the Chinese military released a martial-sounding video online on Monday showing soldiers shouting in readiness to fight, fighters taking off, paratroopers jumping out of a plane or a hail of missiles annihilating multiple targets.
Pelosi’s visit has been the subject of all kinds of speculation in recent days and the Taiwanese government has not included it on its agenda.
National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said Monday that Pelosi had a “right” to travel to the island. “There is no reason for Beijing to turn a potential visit, consistent with long-standing US policy, into some kind of crisis,” he added.
Kirby warned of the possibility of China carrying out shows of force that could include firing missiles into the Taiwan Strait or “large-scale” incursions into Taiwanese airspace.
Taiwan’s Ministry of Defense assured that the territory has “decision, capacity and confidence” to protect the island.
Source: Ambito
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