China Warns US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's Planned Visit To Taiwan Will Have Consequences
China has vowed to take a “resolute and strong” response to any Taiwan visit by US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, setting the stage for a possible showdown over the reported landmark trip.
Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said Tuesday Pelosi’s plan to lead a delegation to Taipei next month, which was reported by the Financial Times, would have a “grave impact” on US-China ties.
China had issued a similar warning about a planned Pelosi visit in April before she contracted COVID-19 and cancelled the trip.
Al Jazeera quotes Zhao Lijian as saying the visit would seriously undermine China’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, and the United States would bear the consequences of its response.
If her trip goes ahead, Pelosi will be the first sitting Speaker of the House to visit Taiwan since Newt Gingrich travelled to the territory in 1997 to meet then-President Lee Teng-hui.
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The timing of Gingrich’s trip was noteworthy as it came a year after Taiwan’s first democratic elections were held in 1996.
Pelosi’s expected visit will take place at a significant low point for US-China and China-Taiwan relations. China is also preparing for its all-important Party Congress in October and the 95th anniversary of the founding of the People’s Liberation Army on August 1.
Wen-Ti Sung, who teaches at the Australian National University’s Taiwan Studies programme predicted that China might signal its discontent by sending People’s Liberation Army planes into Taiwan’s air defence identification zone (ADIZ), a stretch of land and sea along the Chinese coast monitored by the military. He told Al Jazeera:
Beijing will likely warn against potential collusion between US and Taiwan’s ruling DPP, possibly coupled with increase in PLA warplanes activities near Taiwan’s ADIZ. That will publicly register Beijing’s displeasure, but may be plausibly interpreted more as aimed at deterring Taiwan, than protesting against an American congressional leader.
China sees self-ruled Taiwan as a breakaway province that will eventually be part of the country again. China’s President Xi Jinping has said “reunification” with Taiwan “must be fulfilled” – and has not ruled out the possible use of force to achieve this.
However, Taiwan, an island, roughly 100 miles from the coast of southeast China, sees itself as an independent country, with its own constitution and democratically-elected leaders.
