(PresidentialHill.com)- The U.S. government declined to comment on Tuesday on Nancy Pelosi’s alleged forthcoming visit to Taiwan. Beijing has reacted angrily to Pelosi’s unverified intentions.
Ned Price, a State Department spokeswoman, didn’t know Pelosi’s trip plans. Taiwan’s Foreign Ministry, which welcomes Congress members, said it hadn’t been alerted.
Joy Lee, Pelosi’s spokeswoman, said her office could not confirm or deny overseas travel due to security regulations.
According to reports, the California Democrat will head a group to Taipei in August, making her the first current House speaker to visit the island since 1997. Pelosi’s travel would be crucial for America’s unofficial ties with Taiwan. Taipei’s connections with Beijing have strained as the U.S.-China competition has intensified.
China’s Foreign Ministry responded sternly to Pelosi’s rumored intentions. China’s spokeswoman claimed Pelosi’s travel to Taiwan would harm China-U.S. ties.
She said that the U.S. must discontinue formal relations with Taiwan, stop generating elements that might lead to Taiwan Strait tensions, and follow through on its vow to not promote ‘Taiwan’s independence.”
China will take solid and uncompromising actions to protect its sovereignty and territorial integrity if the U.S. insists on doing differently. The U.S. must take full responsibility for any repercussions.
China claims Taiwan as part of its territory, yet the democratic island is operationally autonomous. Successive Chinese authorities haven’t ruled out using force to join it.
As part of its “one China” policy, the United States vowed to maintain a wholly unofficial connection with Taiwan when it established diplomatic ties with Beijing in 1979, at the expense of Taipei. Overall, the vow has been upheld; contemporary executive branch members seldom pay visits.
Taiwan’s independent legislature has expressed strong support. China says the U.S. shouldn’t let Pelosi visit Taiwan, but the State Department disagrees.
Since the announcement, Chinese government organizations and state-affiliated media have attacked the U.S. and Taiwan. Beijing’s Taiwan Affairs Office spokeswoman asked Congress to “recognize the Taiwan issue’s seriousness.”
The Chinese Communist Party’s Global Times called Pelosi’s idea “a tremendous historical error for Washington.”
