The verbal battle continues. Speaker of the US House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi said in Taiwan on Wednesday that she had come “in peace to the region”, as her visit sparked anger in Beijing, which announced a series of military exercises in the surrounding area. of the island and made a brief air raid.
“We come as friends to Taiwan, we come in peace to the region,” Nancy Pelosi, the highest-ranking U.S. official to visit Taiwan in 25 years, said during a meeting with Deputy Speaker of the Taiwan Parliament Tsai Chi- change. Pelosi, 82, arrived in Taipei on Tuesday evening on a US military plane.
Long Range Shots Expected
Upon the arrival of the Speaker of the House of Representatives in Taiwan, the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs denounced “a serious violation” of American commitments vis-à-vis China, which “seriously undermines peace and regional stability. And the Chinese government summoned the American ambassador to Beijing, Nicholas Burns, on Tuesday evening.
Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Xie Feng expressed his country’s “firm protests” to him, adding that “the initiative is extremely shocking and the consequences will be very serious,” the Xinhua News Agency reported. China’s Defense Ministry has meanwhile promised “targeted military actions”, with a series of military maneuvers around the island starting on Wednesday, including “firing long-range live ammunition” in the Taiwan Strait, which separates the island from mainland China.
Aerial incursions
Taiwan authorities reported overnight from Tuesday to Wednesday that 21 Chinese military aircraft had entered the island’s air defense identification zone – an area much larger than its airspace. Taiwan’s Defense Ministry said it was “determined” to protect the island from any attack.
Several American ships also cruise in the region, including the aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan, according to American military sources. Most observers rate the likelihood of armed conflict as low. But US officials said they were preparing for shows of force from the Chinese military.
“Play with fire”
China considers that Taiwan, with its 23 million inhabitants, is one of its provinces, which it has not yet succeeded in attaching to the rest of its territory since the end of the Chinese civil war (1949). Opposed to any initiative giving the Taiwanese authorities international legitimacy, Beijing is against any official contact between Taiwan and other countries.
US officials visit the island regularly. But China considers that a visit by Pelosi, the third figure in the American state, is a major provocation. Last week, in a telephone interview with his American counterpart Joe Biden, Chinese President Xi Jinping had already called on the United States not to “play with fire”.