Taipei: Displaying American support for Taiwan in defiance of China’s threats, Speaker of US House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi arrived here tonight on a visit that has the potential of triggering a confrontation between Washington and Beijing.
Taiwan is a self-ruled island which is claimed by China as part of its territory.
The 82-year-old Democrat is the first sitting US House Speaker to visit Taiwan since 1997, when Republican Newt Gingrich traveled to Taipei and met with then-President Lee Teng-hui.
Pelosi was warmly received here, with the tallest building in Taipei being decorated with the welcome message.
She is expected to meet Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen tomorrow.
Her arrival here was marked by military manoeuvres by an angry China as well as the US, both which reportedly deployed warships near Taiwan.
China sees the visit as a provocative act and has warned of “grave consequences”.
“By traveling to Taiwan, we honor our commitment to democracy: reaffirming that the freedoms of Taiwan — and all democracies — must be respected,” Pelosi tweeted soon after her arrival here.
“Our delegation’s visit to Taiwan honors America’s unwavering commitment to supporting Taiwan’s vibrant Democracy. Our discussions with Taiwan leadership reaffirm our support for our partner & promote our shared interests, including advancing a free & open Indo-Pacific region,” she added in another tweet.
“America’s solidarity with the 23 million people of Taiwan is more important today than ever, as the world faces a choice between autocracy and democracy,” Pelosi said.
“Our visit is one of several Congressional delegations to Taiwan – and it in no way contradicts longstanding United States policy, guided by the Taiwan Relations Act of 1979, U.S.-China Joint Communiques and the Six Assurances,” the US leader said.
Chinese Foreign Ministry issued a strongly-worded statement, saying that Pelosi visited “China’s Taiwan region” in “disregard of China’s strong opposition and serious representations”.
Claiming Taiwan to be an “inalienable part of Chinese territory”, the Foreign Ministry statement said, “This is a serious violation of the one-China principle and the provisions of the three China-U.S. joint communiqués.
“It has a severe impact on the political foundation of China-U.S. relations, and seriously infringes upon China’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.
“It gravely undermines peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait, and sends a seriously wrong signal to the separatist forces for “Taiwan independence”.
“China firmly opposes and sternly condemns this, and has made serious démarche and strong protest to the United States.”
It said China “strongly urges the United States to stop playing the ‘Taiwan card’ and using Taiwan to contain China.”
Beijing said the US “should stop meddling on Taiwan and interfering in China’s internal affairs” and “stop supporting and conniving at ‘Taiwan independence’ separatist forces in any form.
“It should stop its acts of saying one thing but doing the opposite on the Taiwan question. It should stop distorting, obscuring and hollowing out the one-China principle,” the Chinese Foreign Ministry said.
It said the US “must take credible actions to observe strictly the one-China principle and the provisions of the three China-U.S. joint communiqués, deliver on the “five noes” commitment made by the U.S. leadership (i.e. not seek a “new Cold War”; not seek to change China’s system; the revitalization of its alliances is not against China; not support “Taiwan independence”; not look for conflict with China), and not go further down the wrong and dangerous path.”
Earlier, in another statement, the Chinese Foreign Ministry said, the visit constitutes “gross interference in China’s internal affairs” and “greatly threatens peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait”.
It said the visit “severely” undermined China-US relations and would “lead to a very serious situation and grave consequences”.
Issuing a strong warning, it said, “Those who play with fire will perish by it. If the US side insists on making the visit and challenges China’s red line, it will be met with resolute countermeasures. The US must bear all consequences arising thereof.”