China will take "strong measures" if Pelosi visits Taiwan
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Pelosi’s visit would have a negative impact on Chinese-US relations, warns the Chinese foreign ministry.
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China's foreign ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian (Reuters)
Following media reports that US House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi would visit Taiwan next week, China warned, on Thursday, that it would take strong measures if Pelosi visited, saying such a visit would have a negative impact on Chinese-US relations.
The visit has not been confirmed by Pelosi's office or the Taiwanese government, but some Japanese and Taiwanese media have speculated that it will happen after she visits Japan this weekend.
A spokesperson for the Chinese Foreign Ministry has stated Beijing is vehemently opposed to any form of official interaction between the United States and Taiwan, and that Washington should cancel the trip.
The consequences of any visit would be borne by the US, he added, without providing further details.
It is worth mentioning that the 43rd anniversary of the United States signing the 1979 Taiwan Relations Act will be marked on Sunday.
The White House is still guided by Act, in which Congress mandated the US to provide weapons to "enable Taiwan to maintain sufficient self-defense capabilities." The law does not clarify whether the US would militarily intervene at some point.
China has repeatedly urged the US to tread carefully on the topic of Taiwan: "China has no room for compromise on issues involving its core interests," Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Wang Wenbin said in reply to Biden's statements.
While the United States has long supplied the Taiwanese government with weapons of war, the pace of armament sales rapidly increased after 2017. Between 2017 and 2021, the US sold $18.3 billion in weapons to Taiwan, a trend that Biden has continued since taking office in January 2021.
The US to sell Taiwan $95 million worth of weapons, training, and more
On Tuesday, the US State Department has approved selling Taiwan equipment, training, and more to support the Patriot Air Defense System worth up to $95 million, according to the Pentagon.
The package includes training, planning, fielding, deployment, operation, maintenance, and sustainment of the Patriot Defense System and associated equipment.
China's stance is that Taiwan, which is located across from its eastern shore, is part of its land. The two split in 1949 during the civil war, in which China's Communist Party took over mainland China, with the rival Kuomintang retreated into Taiwan, where they formed a government.
