Alwaght- US House of Representatives speaker Nancy Pelosi has started her visit to four Asian countries without mentioning Taiwan, as tensions rise over the self-ruled island.
“Speaker Nancy Pelosi is leading a Congressional delegation to the Indo-Pacific region, including visits to Singapore, Malaysia, South Korea and Japan,” her office said in a press release on Sunday.
“The trip will focus on mutual security, economic partnership and democratic governance in the Indo-Pacific region,” the release said.
Pelosi, who is President Joe Biden’s equal in rank as leader of one of the three branches of government, would be the highest ranking US politician to travel to the island since 1997.
She has so far declined to discuss the details of her trip, but said last week that it was “important for us to show support for Taiwan.”
Meanwhile, China has warned the United States that it would be responsible for any consequences of a visit to Taipei.
Biden administration officials have reportedly expressed concerns that China may try to impose a no-fly zone over Taiwan ahead of the visit.
Beijing claims Taiwan as a Chinese province and sees visits by US officials to Taiwan as sending an encouraging signal to the pro-independence camp on the island.
China will “resolutely safeguard national sovereignty and territorial integrity,” Chinese Air force spokesman, Shen Jinke, said at a military air show Sunday.
The air force has many types of fighter jets capable of circling “the precious island of our motherland,” Shen added.
On Thursday, Chinese President Xi Jinping warned his US counterpart in a phone call against “external interference” in Beijing’s dealings with the island and warned that “those who play with fire will perish by it.”
Xi also urged Biden to stick to the “one China” principle that recognizes Beijing, not Taipei, diplomatically, warning him against supporting Taiwan’s independence.
Biden told Xi that US policy on Taiwan had not changed and that Washington strongly opposes unilateral efforts to change the status quo or undermine peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait.
Meanwhile, former US president Donald Trump said on his social media platform Truth Social on Friday that “the China mess is the last thing Pelosi should be involved in — She will only make it worse.”
Taiwan and China split in 1949 after a civil war that ended with a communist victory on the mainland. The two governments say they are one country but disagree over which is entitled to national leadership.
Under the “one China” policy, nearly all countries across the globe recognize Beijing’s sovereignty over Taipei, including the US, which has no formal diplomatic ties with the territory but continues to support its anti-China stance and supply it with massive amounts of armaments.
Tensions between Washington and Beijing over the issue of Taiwan have intensified in recent months. US naval forces have been conducting such maneuvers near Chinese waters about once a month, irking Beijing, which considers the sailings as a sign of support for the self-governing island territory of Taiwan.
