US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi lands in Taiwan

United States House Speaker Nancy Pelosi landed in Taiwan on Tuesday evening defying a string of increasingly stark warnings and threats from China that have sent tensions between the worlds two superpowers soaringPelosi second in line to the presidency is the highestprofile elected US official to visit Taiwan in 25 years and Beijing has made clear that it regards her presence as a major provocation setting the region on edgeLive television images showed the 82yearold lawmaker who flew on a US military aircraft into Taipei Songshan Airport being greeted on arrival by foreign minister Joseph WuAmericarsquos solidarity with the 23 million people of Taiwan is more important today than ever as the world faces a choice between autocracy and democracymdash Nancy Pelosi SpeakerPelosi August 2 2022Pelosi is currently on a tour of Asia and while neither she nor her office confirmed the Taipei visit multiple US and Taiwanese media outlets reported it was on the cards triggering days of anger from BeijingThe United States continues to oppose unilateral efforts to change the status quo Read my full statement on our Congressional delegationrsquos visit to Taiwan herehttpstcoI2tuY2qFWKmdash Nancy Pelosi SpeakerPelosi August 2 2022Moments before her arrival Chinese state media announced advanced Su35 fighter jets were crossing the Taiwan Strait The brief report had no details on timing or precise location of the crossingThe US breach of faith on the Taiwan issue is despicable Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi said in comments published on his ministrys website earlier Tuesday that did not specifically mention Pelosi No need for crisis China considers selfruled democratic Taiwan as its territory and has vowed to one day seize the island by force if necessaryIt tries to keep Taiwan isolated on the world stage and opposes countries having official exchanges with TaipeiIn a call with US President Joe Biden last week Chinese President Xi Jinping warned the United States against playing with fire on TaiwanWhile the Biden administration is understood to be opposed to a Taiwan stop White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said Pelosi was entitled to go where she pleasedThere is no reason for Beijing to turn a potential visit consistent with longstanding US policies into some sort of crisis he told reportersThe last House Speaker to visit Taiwan was Newt Gingrich in 1997Kirby cited intelligence that China was preparing possible military provocations He said that while Washington did not fear a direct attack on Pelosis plane it raises the stakes of a miscalculationKirby reiterated however that US policy was unchanged toward TaiwanThis means support for its selfruling government while diplomatically recognising Beijing over Taipei and opposing a formal independence declaration by Taiwan or a forceful takeover by ChinaMeanwhile Moscow said it was absolutely in solidarity with China calling the prospect of a Pelosi visit pure provocationChina has refused to condemn Russias invasion of Ukraine and has been accused of providing diplomatic cover for the Kremlin by blasting Western sanctions and arms sales to Kyiv All eyes on Taiwan Pelosi left Kuala Lumpur Tuesday after meeting Malaysian Prime Minister Ismail Sabri and Foreign Minister Saifuddin AbdullahSo many people were tracking the US military plane ferrying her on FlightRadar that the website said some users experienced outagesThe plane took a circuitous route that studiously avoided the South China Sea which Beijing claims before heading up the east coast of the PhilippinesPress access around Pelosi has been tightly restricted so far and limited to a handful or short statements confirming meetings with officialsHer itinerary includes stops in South Korea and Japan but the prospect of a Taiwan trip had dominated attentionTaipeis government remained silent on whether she would visit even as local media published reports showing her presence was all but guaranteedThe capitals famous Taipei 101 skyscraper was illuminated with the words Speaker Pelosi Thank You on Tuesday night before her plane had arrived Seek to punish Taiwan Taiwans 23 million people have long lived with the possibility of an invasion but that threat has intensified under Xi Chinas most assertive ruler in a generationThe islands military on Tuesday said it was determined to defend it against increased threats by China over the potential Pelosi visitThe probability of war or a serious incident is low tweeted Bonnie Glaser director of the Asia programme at the USbased German Marshall Fund think tankBut the probability that China will take a series of military economic and diplomatic actions to show strength amp resolve is not insignificant she addedLikely it will seek to punish Taiwan in myriad waysTaipeis Council of Agriculture on Tuesday said China had suspended the import of some Taiwanese goods including some fishery products tea and honey The council said China cited regulatory breachesPelosis potential visit has been proceeded by a flurry of military activity across the region that highlights how combustible the issue of Taiwan isLast week both Taiwan and China held live fire drills