After making numerous direct threats against the speaker of the house in a bid to stop her from visiting Taiwan, the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs condemned Nancy Pelosi’s trip to the island, calling it a “major political provocation.”
Pelosi’s trip “has a severe impact on the political foundation of China-U.S. relations, and seriously infringes upon China’s sovereignty and territorial integrity. It gravely undermines peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait, and sends a seriously wrong signal to the separatist forces for ‘Taiwan independence.’ China firmly opposes and sternly condemns this, and has made serious démarche and strong protest to the United States,” China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a lengthy statement.
Pelosi landed in Taiwan Tuesday, making her the highest-ranking official to visit the island since then-speaker Newt Gingrich in 1997.
Our delegation’s visit to Taiwan honors America’s unwavering commitment to supporting Taiwan’s vibrant Democracy.
Our discussions with Taiwan leadership reaffirm our support for our partner & promote our shared interests, including advancing a free & open Indo-Pacific region.
— Nancy Pelosi (@SpeakerPelosi) August 2, 2022
She said her visit “honors America’s unwavering commitment to supporting Taiwan’s vibrant Democracy.”
National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby said Monday that Pelosi can make her own decisions about the trip and that “Congress is an independent branch of government.” He also said the U.S. does not support “Taiwan independence.”
“Since Speaker Pelosi is the incumbent leader of the U.S. Congress, her visit to and activities in Taiwan, in whatever form and for whatever reason, is a major political provocation to upgrade U.S. official exchanges with Taiwan. China absolutely does not accept this, and the Chinese people absolutely reject this,” the foreign ministry’s statement continued.
President Joe Biden told Chinese president Xi Jinping on Thursday that the U.S. firmly stands behind its “One China Policy,” but China saw Pelosi’s trip as undermining the commitment, saying it’s trying to use “Taiwan to contain China.”
“The United States, for its part, has been attempting to use Taiwan to contain China. It constantly distorts, obscures and hollows out the one-China principle, steps up its official exchanges with Taiwan, and emboldens ‘Taiwan independence’ separatist activities.’ These moves, like playing with fire, are extremely dangerous. Those who play with fire will perish by it,” the statement said.
Twenty-one Chinese military planes flew near Taiwan but did not enter its airspace the same day as Pelosi visited the island, according to Taiwan’s Ministry of National Defense.