Washington:
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said on Wednesday the United States could not allow China to normalize the new level of pressure on Taiwan, with military exercises lasting days after her visit to the island claimed by China.
“What we’ve seen with China is they were trying to create some kind of new normal. And we just can’t let that happen,” Pelosi told a news conference with four other members of the Democratic House who accompanied her on the trip to China. Asia.
China said on Wednesday it had “completed several tasks around Taiwan” but will continue regular patrols, potentially ending days of war games while maintaining pressure on the self-ruled island.
Furious at last week’s visit to Taipei by Pelosi, a decades-long vocal critic of China and second in line for the US presidency, China has expanded its largest-ever exercises around the self-ruled island it claims as its own. the four days originally planned.
“We went there to praise Taiwan. We went there to show our friendship, to say that China cannot isolate Taiwan,” Pelosi said.
She laughed when asked about China’s announcement that it was imposing sanctions on her and her immediate family. “Who cares?” said Pelosi. “That’s an afterthought to me, of no relevance at all.”
Representative Raja Krishnamoorthi said the delegation discussed a backlog in arms sales to Taiwan. He and Representative Gregory Meeks, chair of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, said lawmakers were taking steps to speed up such deals.
“We intend to fulfill all our obligations to all our partners and others who rely on us for these essential needs,” Krishnamoorthi said.
Meeks said his committee was working on legislation that would help expedite defense equipment deals.
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