US House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi arrived in Taiwan on the night of the 2nd, Taiwanese TVBS and others reported. Chairman Pelosi forced the trip to Taiwan amid the opposition from China, which emphasized ‘one China’.
Pelosi’s plane landed at Songshan Airport in Taipei, Taiwan at 10:45 pm (local time) that night. It is the first time in 25 years since House Speaker Newt Gingrich in 1997 that House Speaker Newt Gingrich visited Taiwan.
Taiwanese media observed that Chairman Pelosi would meet with Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen on the 3rd following staying at the Grand Hyatt Hotel in Taipei and visit the Legislative Council (Parliament) and the Human Rights Museum. It is expected to depart around 4-5 pm on the same day. There was also a local report that a meeting with anti-Chinese figures such as Wuerkaishi, who was a student leader at the time of the 1989 Tiananmen pro-democracy protests in China, was scheduled.
China has sent a strong warning message to the US following rumors of Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan surfaced. Aircraft carriers were also launched. On the same day, when the U.S. military moved four ships, including the Ronald Reagan, from the South China Sea to the eastern seas of Taiwan, China placed the Liaoning and Shandong in the waters north and west of Taiwan, respectively.
Wang Yi, China’s State Councilor and Foreign Minister in charge of foreign affairs, said on the same day that “the United States’ betrayal of trust and contempt on the Taiwan issue will only further damage America’s national credibility.”
Meanwhile, China’s state-run Central Television (CCTV) reported that at 10:25 pm on the same day, a Chinese Su-35 fighter jet was crossing the Taiwan Strait. Analysts say that it can be seen as a military response from China to protest Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan.
Reporter Semin Heo [email protected]