US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who met with leaders in Taiwan despite warnings from China, said Wednesday that she and other members of Congress in a visiting delegation were showing they would not abandon their commitment to the self-ruled island .
“Today, the world faces a choice between democracy and autocracy,” she said in a brief speech during a meeting with Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen. “America’s resolve to preserve democracy, here in Taiwan and around the world, remains ironclad.
China, which claims Taiwan as its territory and opposes any engagement of Taiwanese officials with foreign governments, announced multiple military exercises around the island and issued a series of sharp statements after the delegation landed in the Taiwanese capital, Taipei, on Tuesday evening.
Taiwan condemned the planned actions.
“Such an act is tantamount to shutting down Taiwan by air and sea and seriously violates our country’s territorial sovereignty,” Capt. Jian-chang Yu said at a Ministry of National Defense media briefing on Wednesday morning.
Pelosi, who is leading the trip with five other members of Congress, met earlier Wednesday with representatives of Taiwan’s legislature. The delegation then left for South Korea, with Japan also a planned stop later in the week.
The tension between the US and China
Pelosi’s trip has heightened U.S.-China tensions more than visits by other members of Congress because of her senior position as House leader. She is the first Speaker of the House to come to Taiwan in 25 years since Newt Gingrich in 1997.
Tsai, thanking Pelosi for her decades of support for Taiwan, presented the speaker with a civilian honor, the Order of the Auspicious Cloud.
“Faced with deliberately heightened military threats, Taiwan will not back down,” Tsai said. “We will firmly uphold the sovereignty of our nation and continue to hold the line of defense of democracy.
Pelosi leaves the Legislative Yuan, Taiwan’s house of parliament, on Wednesday in Taipei, Taiwan. Pelosi arrived in Taiwan on Tuesday as part of a tour of Asia aimed at reassuring allies in the region. (Annabel Chee/Getty Images)
Tsai later said at a press conference: “Military exercises are unnecessary responses.”
Shortly after Pelosi’s landing, China announced live-fire drills that reportedly began Tuesday evening, as well as four days of exercises starting Thursday in waters off all sides of the island.
The Chinese Air Force also sent a relatively large contingent of 21 combat aircraft, including fighter jets, to Taiwan.
Taiwan has bipartisan support, Pelosi says
Pelosi addressed Beijing’s threats, saying she hoped it was clear “while China has stood in the way of Taiwan going to certain meetings, that they understand they are not going to stand in the way of people coming to Taiwan as a sign of friendship and support. “
Pelosi noted that support for Taiwan is bipartisan in Congress and praised the island’s democracy. She stopped short of saying the US would defend Taiwan militarily, stressing that Congress is “committed to Taiwan’s security so that Taiwan can defend itself most effectively.”
Together with former political prisoners, our delegation visited the Nat’l Human Rights Museum: a tribute to the heroes who suffered & fought for Taiwan’s democracy. Then we heard from civil society leaders about human rights. We came to listen & learn; we left inspired by their courage. pic.twitter.com/dsKa02n0Ka
—@SpeakerPelosi
Her focus has always been the same, she said, going back to a 1991 visit to Beijing’s Tiananmen Square, when she and other lawmakers unfurled a small pro-democracy banner, two years after a bloody military crackdown on protesters in the square .
That visit was also about human rights and what she called dangerous technology transfers to “rogue countries.”
Biden tried to tone down the visit
“Madam President’s visit to Taiwan with the delegation, without fear, is the strongest defense of the observance of human rights and the consolidation of the values of democracy and freedom,” said Tsai Chi-chang, vice president of Taiwan’s legislature, welcoming .
US President Joe Biden’s administration tried to play down the scale of the visit, insisting there was no change to America’s long-standing “one China” policy, which recognizes Beijing but allows informal relations and defense ties with Taipei.
Pelosi said her delegation was “heavy,” including Gregory Meeks, chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, and Raja Krishnamurthy of the House Intelligence Committee.
WATCH | Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan provoked a stormy reaction from China:
The visit of US Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi to Taiwan caused a stormy reaction from China
US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi became the first high-ranking US official to visit Taiwan in 25 years. The trip prompted a fiery response from China, including live-fire military exercises around Taiwan.
She also mentioned Rep. Susan DelBain, who Pelosi said was instrumental in passing a $280 billion U.S. bill aimed at boosting U.S. manufacturing and research in semiconductor chips, an industry in which Taiwan dominates and is vital. for modern electronics.
Representatives Andy Kim and Mark Takano are also in the delegation.
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