The Kremlin warned the United States on Tuesday that an expected visit to Taiwan by US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi would put the country on a collision course with China and provoke tensions in the region.
“We can’t say for sure right now whether she will or not, but everything about this visit and the possible visit to Taiwan is purely provocative,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters.
China has repeatedly warned Pelosi against going to Taiwan, which Beijing claims as part of its territory. China says a visit by Pelosi would go against the one-China principle that the US has promised to uphold.
China says US politicians who ‘play with fire’ over Taiwan will pay
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said on Tuesday that US politicians who “play with fire” on the Taiwan issue “will not come to a good end”, according to a statement from the ministry. .
He did not mention any US politicians specifically. China has expressed opposition to a possible visit to Taiwan by US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
China is in communication with the United States about US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s expected visit to Taiwan, Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Hua Chunying said on Tuesday.
Pelosi kicked off a series of trips to four Asian countries on Monday in Singapore, amid intense speculation that she might risk Beijing’s wrath by also visiting Taiwan.
Biden administration officials are warning China not to take escalating measures, stressing that the possible visit would not mark a change in US foreign policy.
“There is no reason for Beijing to turn a potential visit, consistent with longstanding US policy, into some sort of crisis or conflict, or use it as a pretext to increase aggressive military activity in or around the Taiwan Strait. ,” US National Security Council spokesman John Kirby told reporters on Monday.
Pelosi is expected to visit Taiwan as part of her Asia tour, according to a senior Taiwanese government official and a US official. This is despite warnings from Biden administration officials who are concerned about China’s response to such an important visit.
The stop – the first for a US House Speaker in 25 years – is not currently on the itinerary released by Pelosi’s team and comes at a time when US-China relations are already at a low ebb.
While US President Joe Biden publicly said before the Asia trip that the US military did not believe it was a good time for Pelosi to visit Taiwan, he did not directly tell her not to go, according to two sources.
Biden discussed the trip with Chinese President Xi Jinping in a call last week. Kirby told reporters that the US president emphasized to Xi that Pelosi, as a member of Congress, makes her own decisions about international travel.
Source: CNN Brasil
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