On Wednesday, Pelosi thanked President Tsai Ing-wen for her leadership.
taipei:
US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi addressed Taiwan’s parliament on Wednesday and was due to meet with the president and human rights activists during a visit to the island that has infuriated Beijing.
China condemned US visit to Taiwan at its highest level in 25 years as a threat to peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait, responded with a wave of military exercises, summoned US ambassador to Beijing and announced suspension of various agricultural imports from Taiwan.
Pelosi arrived in Taipei late Tuesday on an unannounced but closely monitored trip, saying it shows unwavering American commitment to the self-governed island Beijing says is part of China.
On Wednesday, Pelosi thanked President Tsai Ing-wen for her leadership and called for more interparliamentary cooperation.
“We praise Taiwan for being one of the freest societies in the world,” Pelosi told the Taiwanese parliament.
She also said new US legislation aimed at strengthening the US chip industry to compete with China “provides greater opportunities for US-Taiwan economic cooperation.”
While Pelosi is not the first speaker of parliament to go to Taiwan – Newt Gingrich visited in 1997 – her visit comes as relations between Beijing and Washington have deteriorated sharply, and with China a far more powerful economic, military and geopolitical power than a quarter of a century ago.
China considers Taiwan part of its territory and has never renounced the use of force to bring it under its control. The United States warned China not to use the visit as a pretext for military action against Taiwan.
Early on Wednesday, Chinese customs officials announced a halt to imports of citrus fruits, chilled white-striped scabbard tail and frozen horse mackerel from Taiwan, while the Commerce Ministry suspended exports of natural sands to Taiwan.
Pelosi, a longtime China critic especially on human rights issues, is said to meet later on Wednesday with a former Tiananman activist, a Hong Kong bookseller detained by China and a Taiwanese activist recently released by China. people familiar with the matter said.
Military exercises
Shortly after Pelosi’s arrival, the Chinese military announced joint air and sea exercises near Taiwan and test launches of conventional missiles in the sea east of Taiwan, with Chinese state news agency Xinhua conducting live fire drills and other exercises from Thursday to Sunday. Taiwan described.
China’s Foreign Ministry said Pelosi’s visit seriously damages peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait, “seriously impacts the political foundation of China-US relations and seriously infringes on sovereignty and territorial integrity of China.”
Before Pelosi’s arrival on Tuesday, Chinese warplanes buzzed along the line dividing the Taiwan Strait. The Chinese military said it was on high alert and will launch “targeted military operations” in response to Pelosi’s visit.
White House national security spokesman John Kirby said on Tuesday after Pelosi’s arrival that the United States “will not be intimidated” by China’s threats or bellicose rhetoric and that there is no reason her visit should trigger a crisis or conflict.
“We will continue to support Taiwan, defend a free and open Indo-Pacific, and try to maintain communications with Beijing,” Kirby told a later White House briefing, adding that the United States “will not do the saber-rattling.” .”
Kirby said China could engage in “economic coercion” against Taiwan, adding that the impact on US-China relations will depend on Beijing’s actions in the days and weeks to come.
The United States does not have official diplomatic relations with Taiwan, but is required by US law to provide Taiwan with the means to defend itself. China sees visits by US officials to Taiwan as an encouraging signal to the pro-independence camp on the island. Taiwan rejects China’s sovereignty claims, saying that only the Taiwanese people can decide the island’s future.
Taiwan’s Defense Ministry said on Tuesday 21 Chinese aircraft entered its air defense identification zone and that China attempted to threaten key ports and cities with exercises around the island.
“The so-called drilling areas fall within the busiest international channels in the Indo-Pacific region,” a senior Taiwanese official familiar with his security planning told Reuters on Wednesday.
“We see China’s ambition: to make the Taiwan Strait non-international waters and to make the entire area west of the first island chain in the western Pacific Ocean its sphere of influence,” the person said.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by DailyExpertNews staff and has been published from a syndicated feed.)
