US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is allowed to visit Taiwan, the White House said, noting that China appeared ready to respond in the coming days, possibly with military provocations.
Three people with knowledge of the matter told Reuters that Pelosi is due to visit Taiwan tomorrow, Tuesday, as China has warned that its military could not “sit idly” if the visit to the self-ruled island takes place. , which Beijing claims.
For his part, White House National Security spokesman John Kirby told reporters that a possible visit by Pelosi does not change anything in US policy towards Taiwan.
At the same time, Secretary of State Anthony Blinken claimed today that he does not know Pelosi’s intentions, saying that any initiative by her to visit Taiwan is entirely her “personal decision”.
The head of American diplomacy emphasized, however, that Washington expects Beijing to react responsibly and not engage in actions that will escalate the tension if the visit finally takes place.
News of Pelosi’s intention to visit the island has angered China, which considers it its territory and has declared that it will not even hesitate to seize it by force in order to bring it under its full control.
Taiwan’s roughly 23 million residents have lived for years with the possibility of a Chinese invasion, but that threat has increased under Xi Jinping’s presidency.
The US maintains a policy of “strategic ambiguity” on whether it would intervene militarily in the event of a Chinese invasion. Although diplomatically they do not recognize Taiwan’s independence, they support Taiwan’s democratically elected government and oppose any violent regime change of the self-governing island.
The US and Chinese presidents had a high-profile phone call last week dominated by disagreements over Taiwan, with Xi Jinping warning Joe Biden not to “play with fire”.
The scenarios for a possible visit by Pelosi to Taipei have coincided with an increase in Chinese military activity in the region, underscoring how tense the situation is.
Source: Capital
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