Spokesperson warns visit from US House speaker during Asia tour would have ‘egregious political impact’
that the visit is expected to go ahead, citing a senior Taiwanese government official and a US official.Should Pelosi include Taiwan in her tour of Asia, it would be the first visit of a US House speaker in a quarter of a century. Beijing, which claims the self-governing island as its own province, has made clear it would see such a move as an unacceptable provocation.China on Monday stepped up its warning, saying that its military would “not sit idly by” if the visit happened.
From the Chinese perspective, a visit from a lawmaker so closely linked in constitutional terms to the presidency increases the offense. China’s spokesperson, Zhao Lijian, said that because of Pelosi’s status as the “No 3 official of the US government”, a visit to Taiwan would “lead to egregious political impact”.
Pelosi’s trip comes at a time of extreme geopolitical uncertainty in the region. On Monday, she and a six-member congressional delegation held talks with Singapore’s prime minister, Lee Hsien Loong. The Singaporean leader “highlighted the importance of stable US-China relations for regional peace and security”, according to an official statement from Lee’s office.
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