Beijing condemns Nancy Pelosi’s trip to Taiwan, calling it ‘a serious violation’ of one-China policy
- Qin Gang, China’s ambassador to the US, says Pelosi’s visit will escalate tensions both across the Taiwan Strait and between Beijing and Washington
- ‘US and separatist forces will be responsible for any consequences caused by this,’ according to a 1,143-word statement by Chinese officials
Beijing called US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s arrival in Taiwan on Tuesday a “serious crush to political foundations” between China and the US and said Washington would bear any consequences from the visit, as its army conducts live-firing exercises surrounding the island.
“US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has gone ahead with her visit to Taiwan disregarding China’s repeated opposition. The move has been a serious violation of the one-China principle and the stipulations of the three China-US joint communiques, a serious undermining of China’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, a serious crush of political foundation of China-US relations, and sent a seriously wrong signal to ‘Taiwan independence’ separatist forces,” the statement said.
“China firmly opposes this and strongly condemns this, and has lodged serious representation with the US side.”
“China will take all necessary measures to resolutely defend the country’s sovereignty and territory. The US and separatist forces will be responsible for any consequences caused by this,” it said.
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China’s foreign ministry said it has summoned US Ambassador Nicholas Burns to “sternly express opposition” to Pelosi’s visit.
“The US government should have restrained Pelosi’s reckless actions and stopped her from going against the tides instead of acting in collusion and condoning her, escalating tensions in the Taiwan Strait and damaging China-US relations,” state broadcaster CCTV quoted vice foreign minister Xie Feng as saying.
Why is a visit to Taiwan by US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi controversial?
The State Department did not respond to requests for comment about reports of the summoning, but National Security Council spokesman John Kirby confirmed that Burns did have “discussions with his Chinese interlocutors”.
And in an apparent rejection of China’s appeals to the administration to prevent Pelosi’s trip, Kirby stressed that “this was the speaker’s decision and Congress is an independent branch of government”.
The blitz of responses by Beijing on Tuesday included an appearance on CNN by China’s ambassador to the US, Qin Gang, who said Pelosi’s trip would escalate tensions both across the Taiwan Strait and between Beijing and Washington.
“Nancy Pelosi is not a person in the street,” said Qin. “As speaker [she] is No 3 in the US government. So her visit in whatever form and at whatever time during her tenure carries high political sensitivities.”
China vows military operations around Taiwan in response to Pelosi visit
Qin did not respond to questions about the live-fire drills, but said it was the PLA’s duty “to defend China’s sovereignty and territorial integrity”.
“We will take whatever [measures] we can to respond and to protect, to safeguard our sovereignty [and] territorial integrity, and our response will be very full, strong and forceful,” he said.
“There is no reason for Beijing to turn this visit, which is consistent with long-standing US policy, into some sort of crisis,” said Kirby, “or use it as a pretext to increase aggressiveness and military activity in or around the Taiwan Strait”.
