Biden on Pelosi trip: 'I don't know what the status of it is'
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US President Joe Biden Biden seems undecisive on US House Speaker's Pelosi's visit to Taiwan, while the US military opposes it.
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US President Joe Biden and US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi entering a funeral in 2019
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's possible visit to Taiwan is raising concern in Washington, with President Joe Biden saying his country's military opposes it and fears the visit might inflame tensions with China.
Pelosi, who is second in line to the presidency after the vice president, has not commented on any plans to visit Taiwan but reports that she is considering a trip have already outraged Beijing, which claims the island.
Read: Beijing to take 'forceful measures' if US House Speaker visits Taiwan
Asked whether Pelosi should travel to Taiwan, "The military thinks it's not a good idea right now, but I don't know what the status of it is," Biden told reporters on Wednesday.
He is also expected to hold virtual talks in the coming 10 days with Chinese President Xi Jinping that will likely focus on wide-ranging tensions between the world's two largest economies and on Russia's war in Ukraine.
The Biden administration has been stepping up support for Taiwan but the US is careful not to send high-level delegates to Taipei, dispatching instead lower-level or former officials in charge of trade or other less controversial areas.
China has been intensifying air movements near Taiwan this year. CIA chief Bill Burns claimed at the Aspen Security Forum yesterday that China seemed determined to use force in Taiwan, with risks of action growing later this decade.
China considers a province awaiting reunification. The PRC defeated nationalists who fled in 1949 to Taiwan after losing the civil war.
China accuses US of affecting peace in Taiwan strait
The United States is undermining peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait, said Col. Shi Yi, a spokesperson for the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) Eastern Theater Command on July 20.
The USS Benfold, a guided missile destroyer, sailed through the Taiwan Strait on July 19. "Frequent provocations and shows by the United States amply demonstrate that the US is the destroyer of peace and stability, as well as the creator of security threats in the Taiwan Strait," Shi said in a statement.
The PLA military monitored the entire route of the USS Benfold through the Taiwan Strait, according to the spokesperson.
Shi stated that the forces of the Eastern Theater Command are always on high alert to protect the country's sovereignty and territorial integrity.
