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02-08-2022
BEIJING/ WASHINGTON: Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi said on Tuesday that those US politicians who “play with fire” on the Taiwan issue will “come to no good end”, according to a ministry statement.
China has been in communication with the United States over US House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s expected visit to Taiwan, Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying said on Tuesday.
Pelosi kicked off a tour of four Asian countries on Monday in Singapore amid intense speculation that she may risk the wrath of Beijing by also visiting self-ruled Taiwan.
Amid widespread speculation over whether she would make a stop in Taiwan, Pelosi’s office announced on Sunday that she was leading a Congressional delegation to the region that would include visits to Singapore, Malaysia, South Korea, and Japan. It did not mention Taiwan then.
Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian had said that it would be “a gross interference in China’s internal affairs” if Pelosi visits Taiwan, and warned that it would lead to “very serious developments and consequences.”
Although US officials frequently visit Taiwan, separated by a narrow strip of water from the Chinese mainland, Beijing considers a Pelosi trip a major provocation.
Meanwhile, four United States warships, including an aircraft carrier, have taken up positions in waters east of Taiwan in what the US Navy called routine deployments amid rising Chinese anger over an expected visit to the island by House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
Pelosi is expected to arrive in Taipei later on Tuesday, people briefed on the matter said, as the US said it would not be intimidated by Chinese warnings against the visit of the highest ranking US official to travel to the island since 1997.
The carrier USS Ronald Reagan had transited the South China Sea and was currently in the Philippine Sea, east of Taiwan and the Philippines and south of Japan, a US Navy official told the Reuters news agency on Tuesday.
The Japan-based Reagan is operating with a guided missile cruiser, USS Antietam, and a destroyer, USS Higgins.
“While they are able to respond to any eventuality, these are normal, routine deployments,” said the official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity.
The official, who would not comment on precise locations of the warships, said the amphibious assault ship USS Tripoli was also in the area.
Divya Gopalan, international editor of TaiwanPlus, told Al Jazeera that while the government in Taipei has not officially confirmed Pelosi’s visit, senior sources are briefing journalists on the details of the trip, including a scheduled meeting with Taiwan’s President Tsai Ing-wen.
The last visit of a senior US political figure in 1997 occurred at a time when China commanded a very different position on the world stage, Gopalan said.
Pelosi’s planned visit also comes amid deteriorating relations between Beijing and Washington, as well as strained relations between China and Taiwan, she said.
“Now Taiwan is facing a much more powerful PLA [People’s Liberation Army], which the Chinese have said is not standing idly by as Pelosi comes here, and China has also said it will take strong action. What that is is unclear,” Gopalan told media. (Int’l News Desk)
‘Entirely on Beijing’
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken called on Beijing to “act responsibly” in the event that Pelosi proceeded with her visit to Taiwan.
“If the speaker does decide to visit, and China tries to create some kind of a crisis or otherwise escalate tensions, that would be entirely on Beijing,” Blinken told reporters at UN headquarters in New York on Tuesday.
Asked about Blinken’s remarks, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying accused the US and Taiwan of creating “provocations”. Any countermeasures China take will be “justified and necessary” in the face of Washington’s “unscrupulous behaviour,” she said. (Int’l News Desk)
