Media reports says U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi yesterday night arrived in Taiwan amid escalating tensions between the United States and China.
FOX4 says Pelosi arrived aboard a U.S. Air Force passenger jet and was greeted on the tarmac at Taipei’s international airport by Taiwan's foreign minister and other Taiwanese and American officials. She posed for photos before her motorcade whisked her unseen into the parking garage of a hotel.
Pelosi said in a statement just after her arrival that the U.S. delegation’s visit “honors America’s unwavering commitment to supporting Taiwan’s vibrant democracy.”
“Our visit is one of several Congressional delegations to Taiwan -– and it in no way contradicts longstanding United States policy,” she said.
PBS says barricades were erected outside the Grand Hyatt Hotel in Taipei where Pelosi was expected to stay amid heightened security.
Pelosi has reportedly used her position in the U.S. Congress as an emissary for the U.S. on the global stage. She has long challenged China on human rights
The trip by Pelosi, the highest-profile elected US official to visit Taiwan in 25 years, sent tensions soaring between the world's two largest economies, with Beijing regarding it as a major provocation.
China considers Taiwan as a breakaway province which it says it will unify by force if necessary. China's view on Taiwan was reflected as vice premier Xie declared: "Taiwan is China's Taiwan, and Taiwan will eventually return to the embrace of the motherland".
Taiwan and China split in 1949 after the Communists won a civil war on the mainland. The U.S. maintains informal relations and defense ties with Taiwan even as it recognizes Beijing as the government of China.
China’s state-run media reported that China summoned the US ambassador to China yesterday to rebuke him over House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's “egregious” trip to Taiwan, state media reported.
Vice Foreign Minister Xie Feng reportedly voiced “strong protests” over Pelosi's visit to the democratic self-governing island, which China considers part of its territory, during his talk with Ambassador Nicholas Burns.
“The move is extremely egregious in nature and the consequences are extremely serious,” Xie was quoted as saying by China's state news agency Xinhua. “China will not sit idly by.”
Xie said the United States “shall pay the price for its own mistakes” and urged Washington to “immediately address its wrongdoings, take practical measures to undo the adverse effects caused by Pelosi's visit to Taiwan”, Xinhua reported.
