Chinese Premier Xi Jinping had warned the US not to "play with fire", but that didn't stop US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi from visiting Taiwan on Tuesday. Pelosi became the highest-ranking US official in 25 years to visit the self-ruled island claimed by China.
Not only did she visit Taiwan despite warnings of military action by China, the 82-year-old also said that the visit honours America’s commitment to supporting Taiwan’s democracy.
"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," she said.
Taiwan said Pelosi's trip shows "rock solid" support from Washington
China furious: China's foreign ministry said Pelosi's visit seriously damages peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait, "It has a severe impact on the political foundation of China-US relations and seriously infringes upon China's sovereignty and territorial integrity," the statement said.
SC & FM Wang Yi:the #US has reneged on its commitment on the Taiwan question. This is contemptible and will only further bankrupt the US’s credibility as a country. Certain US politicians care about nothing but selfish gains and openly play with fire on the Taiwan question.
— Hua Chunying 华春莹 (@SpokespersonCHN) August 2, 2022
What is the Taiwan issue? Taiwan has been ruled separately from China since 1949, but Beijing considers it part of its territory and wants the island to be reunified. China has not ruled out using military force to take it.
Russia backs China: Russia, which has invaded Ukraine for over 160 days now, said that Pelosi's visit was pure provocation and that it is in solidarity with China. The USA is a state provocateur," said Maria Zakharova, Russia's foreign ministry, reported AFP.
"Russia confirms the principle of 'one China' and opposes the independence of the island in any form," she said.
China had also earlier refused to condemn Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
Buzz over Pelosi's visit: Pelosi's visit to Taiwan had created such a buzz that many people were tracking the US military plane ferrying her on FlightRadar that the website said some users experienced outages.
From take off to touchdown, 2.92 million users followed at least a portion of the flight between Kuala Lumpur and Taiwan.
From take off to touchdown, 2.92 million users followed at least a portion of SPAR19’s flight between Kuala Lumpur and Taipei, with 708,000 following as the flight landed. Both are Flightradar24 tracking records. https://t.co/RifLnVzeMP pic.twitter.com/S57pA3HmTd
— Flightradar24 (@flightradar24) August 2, 2022
What's next? After her visit, Pelosi also said that the visit is one of several Congressional delegations to Taiwan and that it in no way contradicts longstanding United States policy, guided by the Taiwan Relations Act of 1979, US-China Joint Communiques and the Six Assurances.
VIDEO: China warns that the United States will "pay the price" if US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi visits Taiwan, as tensions between Beijing and Washington soar pic.twitter.com/8JRdNpJP4n
— AFP News Agency (@AFP) August 2, 2022