Posted in: 02/08/2022 – 18:04Last updated: 02/08/2022 – 18:06
Amid rising tensions, US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi arrived in Taiwan on Tuesday evening despite Chinese warnings. Live pictures showed her arriving at Songshan Airport in Taipei by a military plane, and she was received by Taiwanese Foreign Minister Joseph Wu. Chinese television reported that Su-35 fighters crossed the Taiwan Strait shortly before Pelosi’s arrival. Beijing denounced the “extremely dangerous” US actions, and said in a statement that Washington was working to empty the “one-China” principle, and vowed to launch “targeted” military operations. While Pelosi stressed that her visit shows Washington’s strong commitment to the autonomous island, which China considers part of its territory.
Arrived US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi To Taiwan despite the warnings Chinese The strong consequences of this, as Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying warned during a regular media briefing that “the US side will bear the responsibility and will pay the price if China’s sovereign security interests are affected.”
And Nancy Pelosi arrived Tuesday evening in Taiwan, following days of rising tension between China and the United States over the possibility of her visit to Taipei.
Live photos showed Pelosi, 82, traveling on a US military plane, arriving at Taipei’s Songshan Airport, as she was received by Taiwanese Foreign Minister Joseph Wu.
On Tuesday evening, Chinese state television reported that Chinese fighter jets crossed the Taiwan Strait, shortly before the arrival of US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on the island.
“Chinese Su-35 fighters are crossing the Taiwan Strait,” state CGTN television reported, without revealing other details. Meanwhile, Taiwan said that more than 20 Chinese military aircraft entered Taiwan’s airspace on the day of Pelosi’s visit.
China condemns Washington’s “extremely dangerous” actions
China on Tuesday denounced “very dangerous” US behavior in Taiwan following Pelosi’s arrival on the island.
“The United States… has been constantly distorting, concealing and hollowing out the ‘one China’ principle,” the Chinese Foreign Ministry said in a statement following Pelosi’s plane landed in Taiwan. “These steps, like playing with fire, are extremely dangerous. Those who play with fire will perish with it.”
Beijing also vowed to launch “targeted military actions” in response to the visit. “The People’s Liberation Army is on high alert and will launch targeted military operations to respond, resolutely defend national sovereignty and territorial integrity, and thwart outside interference and separatist “Taiwan independence” attempts,” Chinese Defense Ministry spokesman Wu Tsian said in a statement denouncing the visit. .
US ships patrol Taiwan, including the aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan
Several US ships toured Taiwan on Tuesday, with US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi arriving on the island, according to US military sources.
At a time when China vowed to launch “targeted military actions” in response to Pelosi’s visit, the US Seventh Fleet announced in a tweet that the aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan, which has been roaming the region since the beginning of July, is in the Philippine Sea, south of Taiwan.
The US Navy released photos of the USS Ronald Reagan maneuvering with the supply ship USS Carl Brashear on Sunday.
A US official, who asked not to be named, said the aircraft carrier and its airborne group were “carrying out a routine mission in the Western Pacific”.
Meanwhile, the Navy’s amphibious ship, the USS Tripoli, roamed eastern Taiwan, according to the US Naval Institute (USNI), an independent organization close to the US Navy.
The US Naval Institute indicated that the USS Ronald Reagan and USS Tripoli are both carriers of the latest F-35 aircraft.
For its part, the US Department of Defense (Pentagon) confirmed that the presence of these two ships in the region is not linked to the visit of Pelosi, who is the highest-ranking US official to visit the island since the visit of her predecessor Newt Gingrich in 1997.
“It is clear that we are taking all necessary measures to ensure the safety of members of Congress wherever they choose to go and whenever they want to travel,” a department spokesman said Tuesday.
Pelosi: My visit shows America’s “unwavering commitment” to Al Jazeera
Meanwhile, US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced upon her arrival in Taiwan that her controversial visit demonstrates Washington’s strong commitment to the self-governing island that China considers part of its territory.
“The congressional delegation’s visit to Taiwan underscores America’s unwavering commitment to supporting Taiwan’s vibrant democracy,” Pelosi said in a statement shortly following her plane arrived. Pelosi, the highest-ranking US elected official to visit Taiwan in 25 years, said her visit does not “in any way” contradict US policies that recognize “one China” and have not formally recognized Taiwan as an independent country.
FRANCE 24/AFP