The most powerful politician in the US Congress, Nancy Pelosi, is on her Asian tour. Warnings from China against its visit to the disputed Taiwan grew stronger.
In the first photos from Pelosi’s trip, Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong greets with a smile.
But a dark cloud hangs over the entire trip, and so the Singapore prime minister came out and called for stability between the United States and China, to ensure “peace and security” in Asia.
Meanwhile, China’s Foreign Ministry said on Monday that the military “will not stand idly by and watch” if Pelosi visits Taiwan, according to Reuters.
After President Joe Biden, Pelosi is the most prominent Democratic politician because she is the Speaker of the House of Representatives, a position equivalent to our Speaker of the House. Thus, China considers her as Biden’s deputy on the trip.
The background is that China fears that self-governing Taiwan will demand full independence and receive support from the United States.
The official line of the United States is that it sees Taiwan as part of China, but many American politicians, including Pelosi, have expressed support for the independence of the island kingdom.
Pelosi has not confirmed whether she Taiwan is included in her travel plan. She was already supposed to travel to Taiwan in April, but was canceled due to Corona. Several media outlets have reported that she plans to visit Taiwan, something that China has strongly warned against on several occasions. The United States has not said anything about its desire to go to Taiwan.
On Thursday last week, Joe Biden and Xi Jinping had their fifth video call since becoming the former president. Then the Chinese president issued warnings that the United States should not be “playing with fire.”
On Saturday, China conducted a military exercise off its coast on the other side of Taiwan. The exercise is seen as an attempt to intimidate Pelosi from visiting Taiwan.
China regards the self-governing island as Chinese territory and does not rule out violence to achieve reunification. According to China, Taiwan has no right to have its own foreign relations.
If Pelosi visits Taiwan, she will become the largest US politician to visit Taiwan since 1997.
Chinese media has devoted much space to the issue, with headlines such as “Pelosi visits Asia to smell gunpowder smoke”, in the Global Times/People’s Daily.
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