Latest about Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan

By
Zubeda Anjum Niazi
-
634
Latest about the visit of Nancy Pelosi to Taiwan.
Flags of China (right) and USA (left)

The situation between the US and China is becoming extremely tricky every minute. Chinese state media has announced that PLAAF Su-35 fighter jets are crossing the Taiwan Straits, without stating their purpose. Moreover, China has closed air space for civilian aircraft above Taiwan Strait.

It was also reported that war alarms had been activated throughout China as the Chinese jets took off. In a recent development, the Spokesperson of the Chinese Foreign Ministry, Hua Chunying, shared on Twitter that “the position of the Chinese Government and people on the Taiwan question has been consistent.”

China has reiterated that it will take all “necessary measures to resolutely safeguard its sovereignty & territorial integrity in response to the US Speaker’s visit.”

It was also communicated that “all the consequences must be borne by the US & the “Taiwan independence” separatist forces.

Libijian, the Consul General of China in Karachi, shared on Twitter about The People’s Liberation Army’s Eastern Theater Command being mobilized to hold joint military ops around Taiwan, with joint maritime & air drills around Taiwan.

The plane carrying Nancy Pelosi landed at Taiwan’s airport, presumably in Taipei. While China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs Spokesperson responds that such a high-ranking official’s visit to Taiwan on a military Aircraft means that this is by no means an unofficial action.

Flight Radar also reported that the flight carrying Pelosi and the delegation had landed at Taipei Airport.

While en route and soon after landing in Taiwan, Nancy Pelosi tweeted about her Washingtonpost column about the reason for her visit to Taiwan.

Before that, reports were emerging, and the Flight Tracker of the SPAR19 carrying the Congressional delegation to the Asian tour was presumably landing in Taiwan. The Flight radar is live streaming the plane’s course.

Despite several warnings and announcements, US Speaker of the House of Representatives, Nancy Pelosi, headed the congressional delegation on a controversial trip to Asia.

Taiwan’s Liberty Times newspaper had earlier reported that Pelosi was expected to arrive at 10:20 pm local time via private plane at Songshan airport in Taipei, which also hosts a military base.

However, in the earlier announcement, Taiwan was conspicuously not in the congressional itinerary announced by the Pelosi office.

Nevertheless, as many speculated, some officials from Taiwan and the US had anonymously announced that the Speaker was coming to Taiwan.

With no specific official announcements, people relied heavily on following the plane’s route on FlightRadar. Almost 708,000 users followed every move of SPAR19, a US Air Force-operated Boeing C-40C. One of the most followed flights in the aviation history.

This was unprecedented and one of the most watched Flights in the tracker’s history. Even the link went down for a while and was later restored.

The SPAR19 flight took off from Kuala Lumpur’s Subang Airport and headed east toward Borneo island instead of northeast Taiwan, bypassing the South China Sea.

It is noteworthy that with so many people following the plane’s information, SPAR19 had become one of the world’s top 10 most tracked flights.

The speculations turned true when the US-Navy, under the name of regular deployments, announced the positioning of four US warships in the east of Taiwan.

Moreover, the US has positioned an entire Aircraft Carrier strike group and more than 20 F-35B fighter jets near the Taiwan strait.

It was also reported that about 8 American fighters have urgently taken off from air bases in Japan to ensure security during the Speaker’s visit to Taiwan.

Her visit is expected to cost $90 million for security. On the other hand, the Taiwan legislative building was already making arrangements for the US Speaker’s visit to Taiwan.

On the speculations of Nancy Pelosi’s possible visit to Taiwan, China had warned of a resolute response and countermeasures.

The Spokesperson of the Chinese Foreign Ministry, Zhao Lijian, said on Monday that China is keeping a close watch on the reports of the US Speaker’s visit.

He also said that China would take strong countermeasures if Nancy Pelosi visited Taiwan on behalf of Congress. Moreover, he warned that the Chinese People’s Liberation Army would never sit idly.

He said China would take strong measures to defend its sovereignty and territorial integrity.

Zhang Meifang, Consul General of China in Belfast, reported the ongoing protests of around 100 anti-war activists and Chinese Americans.

The protest was going on outside the federal building in San Francisco to cancel the possible trip of the US Speaker to the island of Taiwan.

With the speculations turning true of Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan, China had also started deploying its military warships around the unofficial dividing line.

Moreover, the so-called Presidential office of Taiwan also announced that an overseas DDoS had hit its official website. The attack traffic was 200 times more than that on a regular day which caused the website to be down for 20 minutes. This cyberattack just ahead of the Speaker’s visit made many see the rising tensions.

Previously it was also conveyed that the US House Speaker, Nancy Pelosi, is most likely expected to visit Taiwan as part of her tour of Asia as her visit was not confirmed officially.

It is also pertinent to note that there was no mention of Taiwan in the itinerary released for the tour of the US Speaker. Regardless, it had been shared by a Taiwanese official that she would be visiting the island.

Also, it had been speculated by the Taiwanese official that she might stay in Taiwan overnight. In response, US Defense officials had been vigilant to avoid untoward incidents.

However, China warned the US, “A visit to Taiwan by Speaker Pelosi would challenge China’s red line, and any challenge to our red line will no doubt be met with resolute countermeasures.”

The Taiwanese broadcaster TVBS had also claimed that the “US military is moving assets closer to Taiwan, including aircraft carriers and multiple Stratotankers.”

Hua Chunying, the Chinese Assistant Minister of Foreign Affairs and the Foreign Ministry Spokesperson, urged the US on Twitter to practice caution and circumspection.

She tweeted, “Isn’t the House of Representatives part of the US government? Or does the US have more than one govt? The visit of its No. 3 leader to Taiwan by military plane could be taken as unofficial. As long as it is still called the United States of America.”

Nancy Pelosi is on an official tour of the Indo-Pacific region. She is leading a Congressional delegation to the Indo-Pacific region. As per her tweet, her visit aims to reaffirm “America’s unshakeable commitment to our allies & friends in the region.”

She shared that “in Singapore, Malaysia, South Korea & Japan, we’ll hold high-level meetings to discuss how we can further our shared interests & values.”

In response to a question at the regular press conference of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of China about the visit, Chinese Spokesperson Zhao Lijian stated that “A visit to Taiwan by Speaker Pelosi would challenge China’s red line, and any challenge to our red line will no doubt be met with resolute countermeasures.”

Lin Jing, the Chinese Consul General in Cape Town, also tweeted that “If Pelosi visits the island, Biden administration will have to face declining credibility and endure unprecedented and unbearable diplomatic and military consequences.”

Hua Chunying, the Spokesperson of the Chinese Foreign Ministry, stated on Twitter that the  Foreign Minister of China, Wang Yi, while attending the recent SCO CFM in Tashkent enunciated that “political manipulation of Xinjiang-related issues aim at undermining Xinjiang’s prosperity & stability and containing China’s growth.”

She had also shared on Twitter the possible visit of the US Official to Taiwan Island: “Some must-knows for certain people in the US on the question of Taiwan.”

Moreover, in the Tweet, she shared about the Joint Communique of 1978 between the US and China and the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries.

The Joint Communiqué on the Establishment of Diplomatic Relations was signed when then US President Jimmy Carter ended ties with Taiwan.

Aside from official recognition, the communiqué reiterates the principles agreed upon in the Shanghai Communiqué.

Moreover, the Secretary of State of the US, Antony Blinken, stated, “Our approach has been consistent across decades and administrations. As the President of the US has said, our policy has not changed. The United States remains committed to our One China policy.”

A few days back, the President of China, Xi Jinping, and the President of the United States, Joe Biden, had communicated through a phone call in which “the two Presidents had a candid communication and exchange on China-US relations and issues of mutual interest.”

President Biden also shared that he had “spoken with President Xi Jinping of the People’s Republic of China as part of our efforts to deepen lines of communication, responsibly manage our differences, and address issues of mutual interest.”

However, despite all these overtures and statements, Nancy Pelosi’s possible visit to Taiwan contradicts the official US position on the issue. Consequently, in response, a string of warnings have been made by China.

One such warning was given by the Institute of Taiwan Studies in the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences – the highest-level think tank. The institute discussed with analysts the damage of Pelosi’s potential Taiwan island visit to the China-US ties, regional and global peace, cross-Straits stability, and China’s countermeasures.

Zhang Meifang, the Chinese Consul General in Belfast, communicated the remarks of experts on Twitter that “all options, including military ones, are already on the table. It’s crucial to understand China’s remarks and avoid misunderstandings accurately.”

Li Xiaosi, the Chinese Ambassador to Austria, also reiterated on Twitter that “the one-China principle underpins peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait.

When the one-China principle is fully recognized & earnestly followed, the Strait will remain calm and tranquil. Otherwise, there would be dark clouds or violent storms across the Strait.”

What’s more, earlier, during a press conference, the Chinese Defense Ministry Spokesman, Tan Kefei, responded to a question regarding US House Speaker Pelosi’s planned visit to Taiwan.

He had reiterated that the “Chinese side has made clear its resolute opposition on many occasions.

As the “number three person” of the US Government, if Speaker Pelosi visits Taiwan, she will seriously violate the one-China principle and the stipulations of the three Sino-US joint communique, seriously endanger China’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, seriously undermine the political foundation of Sino-US relations, and inevitably cause extremely serious damage to sino-US relations between the two militaries, leading to further escalation of tension in the Taiwan Strait.”

He stated that “the Chinese side demands that the US side fulfill its commitment not to support ‘Taiwan independence’ with practical actions and not arrange for Pelosi to visit Taiwan. If the US side insists on going its way, the Chinese military will never sit idly by. It will certainly take strong measures to thwart any interference by external forces and ‘Taiwan independence’ separatist plots, and resolutely defend national sovereignty and territorial integrity.” Hua Chunying also further shared on Twitter;

Nancy Pelosi will go down in history in raising some of the most controversial provocative trips to Taiwan. This visit will not augment the regional peace and security well when even the warning was issued from China considering an important “One China Policy” which the US has agreed to respect.

 

This is a developing story. Keep checking our website for the latest updates.